Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniReuters

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani the former President of Iran, has died at the age of 82, Iranian media reported.

The official IRNA news agency reported earlier on Sunday that Rafsanjani had taken to a Tehran-area hospital after suffering a heart attack.

Rafsanjani served as the President of Iran from 1989 to 1997.

In 2015, Rafsanjani called Israel a "fake" and "temporary regime" which would soon be wiped off the map.