07/18/2017, 17.06
IRAN
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President Rouhani's brother released on multi-million-dollar bail

Hossein Ferydoun was arrested yesterday for "financial issues". His initial bail of US$ 13 million was reduced to US$ 9.3 million. The inquiry remains ongoing and he could still end up in jail again. The struggle between the judiciary (backed by the Guardians of the Revolution) and Rouhani gets worse.

Tehran (AsiaNews) – Last night, Iranian authorities released Hossein Ferydoun, brother and special adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, after a court accepted his request for bail.

He had been arrested earlier in the day on unspecified "financial issues,” the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

According to Iranian media, Mr Ferydoun had to put up 500 billion rials (US$ 13.3 million), which the court reduced to US$ 9.3 million.

When he announced the arrest over the weekend, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejeie said that the president’s brother had been detained over financial matters. Now with bail paid he was free but the investigation remains active.

So far, President Hassan Rouhani has not made any statement on the matter, and has kept a low profile avoiding direct intervention on his brother’s behalf.

For more than a year now, Hossein Ferydoun's name has been linked to ongoing corruption cases over the salaries of top managers in the state insurance company. He has always strongly denied allegations of misconduct.

The story surfaced during the recent election campaign that saw his brother, President Hassan Rouhani, win a second term. In fact, corruption along with the economy played a key role in the candidates’ debate.

A year ago, Nasser Seraj, head of Iran's General Inspectorate Organisation, had complained of pressure from Ferydoun to get one of his associates, Ali Sedghi, named at the helm of Bank Refah.

Since then, Mr Sedghi has become caught up in a financial scandal and was eliminated from the list of potential candidates to head the prestigious institution.

The name of Rouhani’s brother also popped up in another case involving Ali Rastegar Sorkhei, of Bank Mellat, who was arrested as part of a large-scale investigation into bank corruption.

The intelligence unit of Guardians of the Revolution, one of Rouhani’s staunchest opponents, is leading the inquiry. They had pushed for Ferydoun’s arrest. (DS)

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