Iran releases pro-West former president Rafsanjani’s son on ‘conditional’ basis

One of the sons of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was freed on a "conditional" basis after serving more than seven years of a 10-year jail sentence for fraud, Iranian media reported Wednesday.Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, 53, left Tehran’s Evin Prison late Tuesday, his lawyer Vahid Abolmaali said, quoted by the ISNA news agency.

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was convicted of fraud, embezzlement and undermining national security in August 2015. Previously, Rafsanjani had denounced the charges as "politically motivated".

Who is Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani?

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani is the fourth child of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran. He is known as an Iranian "Aghazadeh", a term used to describe the children of elite who emerge as the men of means and influence.

He had served as a senior official in Iran’s oil sector in the mid-2000s.

In 2009, Hashemi Rafsanjani aroused the anger of conservatives by forming a "vote protection committee" for that year’s presidential election.

He actively supported reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose allegations of large-scale fraud in favour of populist incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted mass protests.

Mehdi’s father, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, served as president from 1989 to 1997 and was regarded as a moderate who supported improving ties with the West.

Earlier this month, Rafsanjani’s daughter Faezeh Hashemi was sentenced to five years in prison for "collusion against the security of the country".

She was arrested in September and convicted of inciting Tehran residents to join protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Al-Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, who died after being arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

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