Mehdi Jahangiri's Lawyer Denies News of His Release

Despite reports from ISNA news agency and the daily newspaper Jahan San'at about the release of Mehdi Jahangiri, the brother of Iran's First Vice President, his lawyer denied this news. Mahmoud Eythari stated in an interview with ISNA on Tuesday, January 4, that the news regarding Mehdi Jahangiri's release is false and added: 'My client's case is still under investigation.' Previously, ISNA had reported on Tuesday morning that Mehdi Jahangiri had been released from prison on bail after approximately 80 days of detention. The Jahan San'at newspaper also reported in its Tuesday issue about Jahangiri's 'limited release' and stated that he had recently 'returned to his workplace under guard and was engaged in his daily affairs and personal matters.' Mehdi Jahangiri was arrested by the IRGC in Kerman on October 6 and was transferred to Tehran on December 4 for further investigation of his case. Meanwhile, Mostafa Mohabir, the director general of Tehran prisons, said on December 18 in an interview with Mehr news agency regarding the transfer of Mehdi Jahangiri to Tehran prisons: 'No one has been handed over to us.' Jahangiri's case was initiated in Kerman, and judiciary officials have cited 'financial issues' as the reason for his arrest. Gholamali Abouhamzeh, the commander of the IRGC in Kerman, stated regarding Jahangiri's arrest by this organization that 'the IRGC will quickly act against anyone who wants to move against the people and the system; we will track each of them down.' Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President under Hassan Rouhani, expressed hope after his brother's arrest that the reason for his detention would not be 'political exploitation.' Following these remarks, the Attorney General stated that when the judiciary deals with the deputies and associates of the former president or current government officials, it is labeled as 'political labeling.' Mohammad Jafar Montazeri indicated that the judiciary acts based on 'documents' against these individuals but does not disclose them to prevent 'enemies' from accessing these documents. Mehdi Jahangiri is the head of the Tourism Financial Group, which was established during Hamid Baghaei's presidency at the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization. He served as the deputy for investment in this organization during Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei's presidency in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first government. The Tourism Financial Group operates in five main companies in banking, tourism, construction, oil and gas, petrochemicals, and mining. The Tourism Bank, Samga Investment Company, Bonab Industrial Steel Complex, Negin Investment Company, Mahan Industries and Mines Holding, Omid Ofogh Tourism Development, and Iranian Tourism Horizon Company are among the subsidiaries of this group. The 'Alif' website, owned by Ahmad Tavakoli, published a report in 2011 about 'some of the rent-seeking of the Tourism Financial Group' during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. This website identified one of the 'special rents' as the allocation of 1,258,000 square meters of land in Lavizan in northeastern Tehran to this private company. The website also mentioned the allocation of the construction and operation rights of international hotels at Imam Khomeini Airport to this private company as another 'rent of Samga' during the government. According to this contract, Samga received 31,000 square meters of free land in the Imam Khomeini International Airport area and built hotels on it. Samga is expected to transfer the rights of these hotels to the country's airport company after 25 years. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a presidential candidate, implicitly accused Mehdi Jahangiri of involvement in banking corruption during the third presidential debate.