The son of the former Iranian president Akbar Rafsanjani is being investigated by Oxford University after claims that his successful doctoral thesis proposal was written with the help of others.
Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former head of Iran‘s state-owned gas company, began a five-year DPhil course in the Iranian constitution at the faculty of oriental studies in October.
An Oxford academic has complained that the university’s usual high standards have been “subverted” with the help of university insiders to allow Hashemi to study. If proven, he could be asked to leave. Hashemi, who helped co-ordinate the 2009 election opposition campaign against Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denies the Oxford claims and has defended his application. Friends say he is the victim of a witch-hunt.
