Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani (Persian: مهدی هاشمی رفسنجانی‎; born 20 September 1969) is an Iranian businessman and the fourth child of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran. He is known as an Iranian "Aghazadeh".[4]

Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani
Hashemi Rafsanjani in 2014
Born
Mehdi Hashemi Bahramani

(1969-09-20) 20 September 1969
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
OccupationBusinessman
Known forStatoil corruption case
Spouse(s)Fereshteh Hashemi Rafsanjani[1]
Parent(s)Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Effat Marashi
Conviction(s)Corruption crimes[2]
Criminal chargeMultiple
Unknown "security offences and financial crimes"[3]
Penalty10 years in prison[2]
Capture status
In Prison[2]
Date apprehended
11 August 2015 (2015-08-11)[2]
Imprisoned atEvin Prison

Early life and education

Rafsanjani was born on 20 September 1969 in Tehran. He attended elementary, junior and high school at the Nikan High School, graduating in 1987. He was accepted at University of Tehran where he majored in telecommunication, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1992. He earned a master's degree from Sharif University of Technology in the energy engineering field, and worked on a PhD in the energy engineering field at Islamic Azad University.

In October 2010, he began studying for a PhD at Wolfson College, Oxford in oriental studies with a focus on the Iranian constitution.[5][6][7]

Trial

In 2007 authorities in France arrested the CEO and other officers of the giant oil company Total S.A. on charges that Total had bribed Iranian officials. From 1997 to 2003, Total paid out €60,000,000 ($80,000,000) for a favorable contract in the PSEEZ off-shore natural gas field. Much of this money was allegedly paid into bank accounts controlled by Mehdi Rafsanjani, then head of the state-owned company Gaz Iran.[8]

Rafsanjani denied this allegation, and threatened the newspapers which reported it with prosecution.[9]

In the 2009 Iran poll protests trial, a defendant (Hamzeh Karami) accused Rafsanjani of spending assets of the Iranian Fuel Conservation Organization to finance his father's 2005 campaign.[10] Rafsanjani questioned the credibility of the confession pointing out that Karami "stood trial on Tuesday without a defense attorney after having spent over 70 days in solitary",[10] and accused president Ahmadinejad of embezzling a far larger amount "that went missing from the Tehran governor's office in 2005."[11] The trial has been widely condemned in both Iran and elsewhere as a "show trial" employing coerced confessions.[12]

Rafsanjani returned to Iran from exile to answer charges of inciting unrest after a disputed election in 2009, fuelling speculation that Rafsanjani's influence in Tehran may once again be growing.[13] In September 2012, he was arrested on a whole raft of charges and released in December 2012.[14][15]

References
  1. پاسخ همسر مهدی هاشمی؛ دستگيری فرشته هاشمی چگونه اتفاق افتاد
  2. "Rafsanjani's son enters prison amid media circus – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  3. "Iran ex-leader Rafsanjani's son 'jailed for 15 years'". BBC World Service. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi (25 September 2012), "Rafsanjani reacts to his Son's Arrest; Ahmadinejad's Last Visit to New York", Al-Monitor, archived from the original on 5 August 2017, retrieved 15 July 2017
  5. Rajeev Syal (27 March 2011). "Oxford investigates former Iranian president's son over DPhil application". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  6. "The torturer Oxford 'bent over backwards' to admit". The Oxford Student. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  7. "Record 2011" (PDF). Wolfson Oxford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  8. Oil chief held in second corruption investigation – Times Online. Charles Bremner in Paris. 22 March 2007
  9. تكذيب هرگونه ارتباط با توتال :: RajaNews Archived 2 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Rafsanjani's son denies part in embezzlement plot. 26 August 2009
  11. Rafsanjani’s Son Accuses Ahmadinejad of Embezzling 340 Million Tomans.
  12. "Iran defies condemnation, expands opposition trial." Nasser Karimi (AP) 16 August 2009
  13. "Son of Iran's former president detained after return from exile". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  14. Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, Eskandar (25 September 2012). "Rafsanjani reacts to his Son's Arrest". Al Monitor. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  15. Sadeghi-Boroujerdi, Eskandar (20 December 2012). "Former Ahmadinejad Deputy Calls for Mehdi Hashemi's Execution". Al Monitor. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
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