Abolhassan Banisadr: Iran's first president after revolution dies at 88

Abolhassan Banisadr, who became Iran's first president after the 1979 Islamic Revolution before fleeing into exile, has died at the age of 88, BBC reports. 

Elected president in 1980, Banisadr was impeached 16 months after taking office for challenging the growing power of clerics.

He fled to France, where he was briefly part of a group dedicated to trying to overthrow the clerical authorities.

His family say he died at a Paris hospital after a long illness.