First Iranian President dies at 88

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, the first president of Iran after the country's revolution, died Saturday in France, his family announced. He was 88, UPI informs. A statement on his website said he died "after a long battle with illness" in Paris' Salpêtrière hospital.

Bani-Sadr served as president for less than two years, 1980-81, at the conclusion of the Iranian Revolution. He was the first person elected to lead the country after the abolishment of the monarchy.

He was impeached in 1981 after attempting to overthrow the country's clerics. He opposed their participation in the country's politics, UPI reports.