Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani's Daughter, Released from Jail

Former member of Majils Faezeh Hashemi, the politically active and outspoken daughter of Iranian elder statement and former president Hashemi Rafsanajani, was freed today after six months in jail. She was jailed for “propaganda” against the state.

Ms. Hashemi’s release comes less than three months before the all-important presidential election where her father, the former president, is expected to play a major role. Ayatollah Rafsanjani is expected to either run for the presidency or play a kingmaker role if different political factions within the Islamic Republic would feel the importance and the urgency of an inclusive election that brings them together.

File photo: Faezeh Hashemi appears in court. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Mehdi Hashemi Arrested

Mehdi Hashemi, the son of Iran’s former president Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was arrested on Monday after returning from self-exile. Hashemi is accused of “inciting” post-election unrest in 2009. Hashemi was taken to the notorious Evin prison, where her sister, former member of Majlis Faezeh Hashemi, was taken after her arrest on Sunday on charges of “spreading anti-state propaganda.”

Photo credit: Mehdi Hashemi being read his charges before taken to Evin prison in Tehran. 24 September 2012. (Fars News Agency) 

Faezeh Hashemi Arrested

Taken to Evin Prison

Iranian authorities took Faezeh Hashemi, a former member of Majlis and daughter of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to prison Saturday on charges of “spreading anti-state propaganda.”

Ms. Hashemi was convicted in January and sentenced to six-month jail for an interview she gave to an opposition news website in which she criticized human rights violations in Iran. She was taken to the notorious Evin prison at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Faezeh represented Tehran in Majlis between 1996 and 2000 and founded the popular women’s magazine Zan. Her father is one of the founders of the Islamic Republic and has served two terms as Iran’s president. 

File Courtesy Photo: Faeze Hashemi. (Radio Farda)

Faezeh Hashemi Arrested -- Released

IRNA photo shows Faezeh Hashemi being transferred to a detention center, charged with leading protesters on a Tehran street. She was later released.

UPDATE: Faezeh Hashemi has been released. Fars News Agency broke the news of her arrest and now is reporting that the authorities have released Hashemi.

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Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reports that Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of the senior Iranian leader Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, was arrested today in Tehran while leading a group of protesters at Vali Asr and Fatemi intersection.

Faezeh represented Tehran in Majlis between 1996 and 2000 and founded the women’s magazine Zan. Her father, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is one of the founders of the Islamic Republic and has served two terms as Iran’s president and for nine years he was the speaker of Majlis. He is currently the head of the powerful Assembly of Experts and the chairman of Expediency Council.