Rafsanjani grandson arrested after return to Iran

Hassan Lahoti, the grandson of Iran’s Chairman of the Expediency Council and son of Faezeh Hashemi was arrested by Iranian authorities last night after he returned to Iran.

Reformist website Jaras reports that the arrest was confirmed by the Hashemi Rafsanjani family.

Hassan Lahoti is currently studying in Britain and the warrant for his arrest was issued by the judiciary.

Fars News Agency reports that Lahoti left Iran ten days after the June presidential elections but none of the papers have stated the charges against him.

The Chairman of the Expediency Council has aligned himself with the demands of election protesters and following the June presidential elections, he called for review of the votes. He has thus become the target of hardline attacks and his family has become the object of vague charges by the judiciary.

His daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, who is also the subject of one of these charges recently denied any wrongdoing and claimed the charges are merely a way of getting at his father who supports the opposition.

Last week, Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s brother-in-law was also arrested to carry out a prison sentence.

Faezeh Hashemi was also briefly arrested in the street protests of June 12.

Mehdi Hashemi, Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s son who is currently in Britain has been accused by hardliners of being involved in the post-election unrest. They have urged the judiciary to press charges against him.

Hashemi family has announced that he will come back to defend himself whenever the judiciary summons him.