Iran’s former VP imprisoned

A former Iranian vice president has been taken to jail after he was sentenced to more than five years in prison over corruption charges.

According to IRNA, police officers went to the residence of Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who served as first vice president under a former Iranian president, in the capital, Tehran, on Sunday and transferred him to the Evin Prison.

An Iranian court in January sentenced Rahimi to five years and three months in prison. The court also imposed a fine of IRR 10 billion (around USD 362,000) on Rahimi.

He was also ordered to restitute IRR 28.5 billion (more than USD 1 million) he had gained in unjust enrichment.

The sentence entered into force once it was upheld by the Iranian Supreme Court, which rejected Rahimi’s objection.

A court of first instance had initially handed down a 15-year prison sentence to Rahimi, but the Supreme Court commuted the term.