The imprisonment of Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani has been like no other corruption case in recent memory in Iran. The media coverage and the social media commentary were a testament to the polarizing position the Rafsanjani family holds in Iranian politics today.

The short video of his saying goodbye to his father, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, before leaving for Evin prison went viral on Facebook. The grainy video of the elder statesman in simple white clerical garb praying for his son seemed clearly aimed at garnering sympathy for a family at the receiving end of endless accusations of financial corruption.

Mehdi Rafsanjani arrived at the prison with a number of family members, flanked by reporters, photographers and cameramen. He seemed nonchalant about the circus-like atmosphere around him before he entered one of Iran’s most notorious prisons to serve out a 10-year sentence. When a female associate began to weep, he even smiled to console her.

The fourth child of one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mehdi Rafsanjani has been the wild card of the Rafsanjani family. And political foes of Hashemi Rafsanjani have not hesitated to use his son’s crimes against the elder statesman who still harbors political ambitions.