Iran ex-president's daughter held, charged amid protests

The daughter of Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, arrested last month amid protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, has been charged with "propaganda" activity, the judiciary said Tuesday.

Faezeh Hashemi, 59, a former lawmaker and a women's rights activist, was arrested on September 27 in the capital Tehran for reportedly inciting residents to take part in demonstrations.

Her arrest came amid a continuing wave of unrest that has rocked Iran since 22-year-old Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

"Ms. Hashemi has been accused of collusion, disruption of public order and propaganda against the Islamic republic," judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told reporters.

In July, she had previously faced separate charges of carrying out propaganda activity against the country and blasphemy in social media comments.

In March, she was "sentenced to 15 months in prison and two years of additional punishment such as a ban on internet activities", said Setayeshi, without elaborating.

In 2012, she was sentenced to six months in jail on charges of "propaganda against the Islamic republic".

Hashemi's late father, president between 1989 and 1997, who died in 2017, was considered a moderate who advocated improved ties with the West and the United States.

Iran says dozens of people have been killed in the protests triggered by Amini's death, including 18 security personnel, and hundreds have been arrested at what it calls "riots".