Daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanyani arrested in Iran for allegedly “inciting unrest”.

Authorities in Iran have detained the daughter of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanyani for allegedly “inciting riots” in the capital Tehran amid protests over the death in custody of a woman arrested for improperly wearing a veil.

According to information provided by the Iranian news agency Tasnim, Faezé Hashemi, was arrested on Tuesday night, with no further details at this time about her actions or whether she could be charged.

The detainee is a former parliamentarian who maintains a critical line with some policies of the authorities, even being arrested after protests in 2009 denouncing fraud after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the presidential election.

Hashemi was charged in December 2011 with “propaganda against the regime” and was sentenced to six months in prison in January 2012, amid criticism of her father by conservative sectors for his support of opponents Mir Hosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi.

Subsequently, she was again sentenced to six months in prison in 2017 for “propaganda against the regime.” This same year, she has been charged after allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad and for supporting the sanctions imposed against Tehran after stating that the Revolutionary Guard should remain on the US list of terrorist organizations.

Hashemi is the daughter of former President Rafsanyani, one of the leaders of the 1979 Islamic Revolution alongside Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He was later the ‘de facto’ head of the army during the war against Iraq (1980-88) and served as president from 1989 to 1997.

Rasfanyani, who died in 2017, also held the position of chairman of the Discernment Council of the Regime’s Higher Interest, a body of notables appointed by the Iranian supreme leader to resolve disputes between the Parliament and the Council of Guardians of the Revolution.

Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman member of the Kurdish minority, after she was arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly, have so far resulted in more than 40 deaths, according to official media.

However, the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) on Monday raised the death toll in the mobilizations to 76, including four children, and denounced that “most families were forced to discreetly bury their loved ones at night and pressured against holding public funerals.” “Many families were threatened with charges if they published information about the deaths,” he added.

Amini was arrested on September 13 and died three days later after slipping into a coma after fainting in a detention center, amid allegations of torture and ill-treatment. Police have denied the allegations and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has promised an investigation.