A year after the election of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani’s preferred candidate, Hassan Rouhani, as president of Iran, Rafsanjani's own chances of being elected chairman of the Assembly of Experts are ever increasing. In response, it appears that conservatives in Iran are trying to attack and weaken Rafsanjani by putting one of his sons on trial.
On Aug. 2, the first session of the trial of Mehdi Hashemi — Rafsanjani’s second son — was held behind closed doors, presided over by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh. Moghiseh is known for having imposed long prison sentences on journalists, student activists and high ranking Reformists.
The list of charges against Hashemi has not been published yet. However, on Aug. 4, a day after the second session of the trial, the speaker of the judiciary declared that the charges against Hashemi include “intelligence” offenses in addition to "economic corruption."
Hashemi was once the head of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization, but left Iran after the contested 2009 presidential elections. When he returned after three years on Sept, 23, 2012, he was interrogated at the airport. The next day he was sent to the intelligence branch of the judiciary. However, later that same day, with an arrest warrant, he was sent to the Evin Prison. His incarceration lasted two months and 23 days until he was finally set free on a bail of about $3 million.
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