Brother of Iranian president sentenced to 10 years in prison

Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was sentenced to five years in prison for corruption, state news media reported.

"Hossein Fereydoun was sentenced to five years of prison," Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Esmayeeli said in a press conference Tuesday, Fars News Agency reported.

Fereydoun was arrested in 2017 following long-running allegations of corruption and bribery while being subject to "multiple investigations," the Iranian judiciary said at that time.

On Tuesday, Esmayeeli said Fereydoun, a special advisor to Rouhani, was still involved in another court case that was "under study at the prosecutor's office and has not been sent to the judge yet" without offering other specifics.

The court's decision is another blow to Rouhani who is in the midst of a row with the West due to Iran stopping compliance with several agreements under a landmark multinational nuclear accord aimed at preventing his nation from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Iran has also been accused of destabilizing the region through aggressive actions with the United States most recently holding Rouhani's government responsible for a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities.

In a separate case Tuesday, the Iranian judiciary sentenced two people for spying on Iran for the United States and a third person for spying for Britain to 10 years in prison, according to state-run media.

A fourth person convicted for spying for the United States received the death penalty, Esmayeeli said without identifying the individual.

Esmayeeli identified the U.S. spies as Ali Nafariyeh and Mohammad Babapour and the British agent as Amir Nasad.

The sentences come after Iran announced in July that it had broken up a U.S. spy ring by arresting 17 Iranian citizens who'd been working for the CIA.

U.S. President Donald Trump called the story "totally false."

On Tuesday, Esmayeeli said, "Members of the [spy] team were identified last year with strenuous efforts of the Iranian security forces and its agents were identified in Iran's sensitive centers," including nuclear and defense departments.