Iranian Ex-Vice President Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison

Iran's Supreme Court has sentenced a former vice president to five years and three months in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 10 billion rial ($360,000).

State media said late on January 21 that 66-year-old Mohammad Reza Rahimi, also was ordered to pay 28.5 billion rial ($1 million) in compensation, without saying to whom.

IRNA said a local court had sentenced Rahimi to 15 years of prison, but gave no specifics about the charges against him.

Rahimi was a top aide to Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who was president from 2005 to 2013.

Iranian media had reported that Rahimi had been convicted in September 2014 on corruption charges.

Lawmakers accused him of playing a role in a major government embezzlement scheme.

With reporting by AP and AFP