TEHRAN, Iran – A spokesman for Iran's judiciary says the son of influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to 15 years in prison over security and corruption charges.
The spokesman did not offer the specific charges on which Mahdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was convicted. Instead, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi said Rafsanjani would be banned from public service after his conviction.
In comments posted on the judiciary's website late Sunday, Ejehi also said Rafsanjani has 20 days to appeal the sentence.
Rafsanjani is the former president's second-eldest son. He was briefly imprisoned before standing trial on charges of fomenting unrest in the aftermath of Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election that former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won.
Since the former president backed Ahmadinejad's reformist challenger, his family has come under tremendous pressure.
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