The son of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani began his 10-year jail sentence Sunday after being convicted of financial and security crimes, AFP reported.

In March, Mehdi Hashemi was handed prison sentences totaling 25 years for national security, fraud, and embezzlement crimes in a trial he insists was politically motivated.

The details of the evidence and the specific crimes have not been released, AFP reported.

45-year-old Hashemi was sentenced to two 10-year terms and one five-year term. In accordance with Iranian law, he will serve the longest of the three sentences.

In addition to 10 years in prison, Hashemi was ordered to pay undisclosed fines and financial penalties and was barred from holding public office.

Hashemi told reporters his conviction was “neither fair nor legal.”

“I demand once again that state television broadcast my court hearings fully," he told AFP.

"I firmly believe that this measure will prevent abuses by radicals from harming one of the important pillars of the Islamic republic,” he added.