Iran's Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri has called on his political rivals to stop factional infighting, exhibit civility in politics and strive for unity, after his brother was arrested to serve a jail term..

"We are all in the same boat and have a shared destiny. We should learn to talk to each other as we are not each other's enemies,” Jahangiri said on Wednesday, January 27.

Jahangiri made the statement one day after the spokesman for Iran's Judiciary revealed that his brother Mehdi Jahangiri has been sentenced to two years in jail on corruption charges. This is a final verdict and cannot be appealed, said the spokesman in a televised interview on Tuesday.

The vice-president's plea for unity gives way to speculations about political motives behind his brother's case.

Jahangiri is President Hassan Rouhani’s First Vice President and the Iranian media say he is likely to be one of the main candidates in Iran's upcoming presidential election in June. Other possible contestants from the conservative camp include Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeesi, and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Jahangiri's brother Mehdi is a former board member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and the founder of Iran's Tourism Bank.

According to the Judiciary spokesman, Mehdi Jahangiri has been officially charged with "professional currency smuggling" involving 607,100 euros and 108,000 dollars. Jahangiri has been ordered to return the funds and to pay a fine fourfold the original amount. 

Iran's vice president Es'haq Jahangiri (L) and President Hassan Rouhani

Jahangiri was first arrested in October 2017 but was released on a hefty bail six months later in 2018. Experts and analysts talking with Iran International TV, said on Wednesday that the final sentence handed over to Jahangiri was disproportionate to the amount involved and to the bail on which he was released from jail in 2018, apparently several billions of rials.

When he was first arrested, the vice President said that he foresaw his brother's arrest, adding that he hoped everyone in jail in Iran would be treated equally.

Imprisoning family members and political allies of presidents and vice-presidents in Iran is not unprecedented and is seen by some observers as some kind of hostage taking to keep top officials silent.

A son of late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is still in jail on charges of taking bribes. Two vice-presidents and a chief of staff of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are in prison on corruption charges while his chief of staff is also in jail on other charges. President Hassan Rouhani's brother has also been in jail since 2019 for charges that have been defined as "financial misconduct." Yesterday, Iran jailed another former top official of the Rouhani administration for mishandling the privatization of government companies.

During one of the debates between presidential candidates on Iranian state television in May 2017, Ghalibaf charged that Jahangiri's brother, Mehdi and his bank were "deeply involved in financial corruption." That was of course after Jahangiri made revelations about corruption at the Tehran Municipality where Ghalibaf was mayor at the time.

Speaking about the June election on Wednesday, Vice-President Jahangiri said that all political parties should take part and to facilitate this, politicians should accept the idea of dialogue as a solution for the country's problems.

"We should be able to tolerate each other and talk to each other," He said, adding that "living and working with each other is a skill we should all learn."

Jahangiri said, "We need to have a common understanding of the threats and problems this country is facing. We can find a common solution only when we have a common understanding of threats and opportunities."