The verdict issued by the first section of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court on Tuesday showed former Agriculture Minister Kazem Sadatinehad and former Trade Minister Leza Fatemi Amin were given two and one year prison sentences, respectively.
The court said the two former ministers initially received five years in prison sentences, but were cut under existing laws and regulations.
The prisoners can sue them, but they cannot suspend the sentence.
This is the first time a senior minister has been jailed for corruption since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979.
Sadatinejad and Fatemiamine were being charged with accomplice in tea smuggling cases by failing to prevent economic disruption in Iran and silenced approval of an application for excessive tea import into the country.
Dozens of other suspects in the case, including CEO of Debsh Group Akbar Rahimi, have been sentenced to six months to 25 years in prison.
The case covers suspicious financial transactions carried out by the DEBSH Group and its associates from 2019 to 2022, resulting in the misuse of approximately $3.37 billion in US currency received at a lower rate to import high-quality tea and machinery into Iran.
Case studies show that DEBSH sold almost half of its currency in the open market, collecting Iranian rial at a much better speed. Other convictions in this case include labeling low quality tea as excellent quality tea imported from India and reclaiming cheap Iranian tea to maintain the differences in foreign currency.
MNA