Iran jails senior reformer for six years

An Iranian court has sentenced a reformist former deputy foreign minister to six years in jail over his role in unrest that erupted after last year's disputed election, the ISNA news agency reported on Monday.                                           

Mohsen Aminzadeh was accused of taking part in illegal gatherings, planning to disturb Iran's security and also of spreading propaganda against the Islamic government system in interviews with foreign media, ISNA said, quoting his lawyer.                                           

Aminzadeh was a prominent supporter of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in the June poll, which Mousavi says was rigged to secure hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. The authorities have rejected the charge and portrayed post-election protests as Western-backed.