TEHRAN — Iran's judiciary said it has sentenced a former government minister to three years in jail over a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scandal, the biggest known corruption case in Iranian history, the judiciary's official news website, Mizan, reported on Tuesday.
The ex-official, Javad Sadatinejad, served as agriculture minister (2021-2023) in the administration of incumbent President Ebrahim Raisi.
Seven deputies working under Sadatinejad have also been handed prison terms, while a total of 45 other officials have been indicted for varying levels of involvement in the fraudulent tea imports case, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said in a public speech on Tuesday.
The hard-line judiciary chief earlier told the media that the case had caused "public pessimism," raising the need for speedy proceedings due to the "massive digits" that have defined the fraud saga.
