Arash Aramesh

According to IRNA, the Islamic Republic’s News Agency, the Iranian justice system has filed cases against Faezeh and Mehdi Hashemi, two children of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. In an interview with IRNA March 10, Alireza Avaie, the highest ranking judicial official in the province of Tehran, announced that cases have been filed in the General Court and in the Revolutionary Court to address accusations against Mehdi and Faezeh Hashemi.

Mr. Avaie said that these actions are in the interest of the regime and no one should be above the law. Earlier, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ezhei, Iran’s chief prosecutor, had said that Iran’s courts would investigate any cases against Rafsanjani’s children if there are any complaints filed against them.

Mehdi and Faezeh Hashemi are accused of fomenting riots in Tehran following the disputed June 12 election. Faezeh Hashemi participated in a few anti-government demonstrations and she was briefly detained by unknown security forces for a short period of time. Mehdi Hashemi left Iran last summer, shortly after the government accused him of supporting Mir Hossein Moussavi’s campaign. Mehdi Hashemi is also accused of having played a role in organizing what the government calls “riots” in Tehran—a reference to the ongoing protests.

Some analysts believe that pro-government forces in the judiciary with close ties to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are uneasy about Rafsanjani’s recent rapprochement with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It is believed that Ahmadinejad and hardliners in the IRGC fear that a close partnership between Khamenei and Rafsanjani would jeopardize their political power; therefore, these hardliners seek to discredit Rafsanjani and his family by charging two members of his family.

Ayatollah Rafsanjani has not taken a position on the judiciary’s recent statement regarding his children, but at an event in Mashhad two months ago, Mr. Rafsanjani asserted that his son had nothing to worry about and would return to Iran if he was summoned by the courts.