Iran's minister of Social Welfare, Abdolreza Mesri in Tehran, Iran on Oct. 29, 2006. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s official IRNA news agency says authorities have arrested the former minister of welfare and social security for financial fraud.
The Sunday report says Parviz Kazemi was taken to Tehran’s Evin prison two days ago.
Kazemi resigned from his post in 2006 after nearly a year under former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over political differences. He later worked in the banking sector.
In recent years, Kazemi turned into a critic of Ahmadinejad.
Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives an interview to The Associated Press at his office in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2017. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP)
Several of Ahmadinejad’s allies are in jail over charges relating to security and financial fraud.
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In September, a court sentenced Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close ally of Ahmadinejad, to six-and-a-half years in prison for plotting to commit crimes against national security, propaganda against the Islamic Republic and insulting officials.
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