TEHRAN — Mourners from all walks of life in Iran — from the country’s president to passers-by on the street — paid respects on Monday to the late Iranian leader Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after his death over the weekend at the age of 82.
President Hassan Rouhani and his administration visited the mosque in northern Tehran where Rafsanjani’s body was brought. Mourners, including Rafsanjani’s family members, wept at the sight of his coffin.
Newspapers in Iran published front-page photographs of Rafsanjani, who died Sunday after suffering a heart attack, while state television aired archival clips of his comments and speeches. The country is observing three days of mourning, and Rafsanjani’s funeral is set for Tuesday.
At the start of a Parliament session Monday, chairman Ali Larijani paid tribute to the late leader, describing Rafsanjani as ‘‘a man for hard days whose name has always been tied to the revolution and it will always be so.’’
However, political analysts believe Rafsanjani’s absence will put Rouhani under more pressures by hard-liners. Tehran-based analyst Hamid Reza Shokouhi said Rouhani and reformists in general have lost a powerful supporter in the next presidential election.
‘‘There are so many pressures on Rouhani’s administration,’’ he said. ‘‘Rafsanjani could manage it, if he were still alive.’’
A Tehran-based diplomatic analyst, Hassan Hanizadeh, told the Associated Press that Rafsanjani left a big vacuum in the Iranian field of diplomacy. During visits to Tehran, many foreign envoys met with Rafsanjani to discuss regional and internationals issues.
‘‘Over the past 37 years, Rafsanjani always tried to pave the way for better ties with regional countries and the West,’’ said Hanizadeh, adding that he hopes ‘‘moderate figures will continue his policies.’’
In a separate development, a US Navy destroyer opened fire Sunday in the Strait of Hormuz after four Iranian patrol boats behaved in a way that a US defense official described as ‘‘harassing.’’
The USS Mahan, a guided-missile destroyer, fired three warning shots at four Iranian boats after at least one of them traveled within 900 yards of the Mahan.
It was traveling north through the strait toward the Persian Gulf with two other Navy vessels, the amphibious craft USS Makin Island and the oiler USNS Walter S. Diehl, a US defense official said.
