Middle East News

Former Iranian foreign minister sentenced to eight-year jail term

Dec 28, 2011, 13:58 GMT

Tehran - Former Iranian foreign minister Ebrahim Yazdi was sentenced by the country's revolutionary court to eight years in jail after being found guilty of offending national security, Iranian opposition websites reported Wednesday.

His lawyer, Mohammad Dadkhah, told the website Jaras that Yazdi had refused to defend himself after questioning the court's legitimacy.

However, Dadkhah said he planned to appeal the sentence.

The 80-year-old Yazdi was foreign minister in 1979, in the first post-revolution cabinet of Mehdi Bazargan. He later succeed him as head of the banned opposition party Freedom Movement.

A prominent opposition figure, Yazdi has been arrested on several occasions. Along with his Freedom Movement, Yazdi has been repeatedly charged in connection with alleged plans to topple the country's Islamic establishment.