[JURIST] Iranian authorities on Monday arrested Hamid Baghaei, former vice president under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [Bio profile]. Baghaei’s arrest is the second detention of a high-ranking official from the Ahmadinejad administration, as Mohammad Reza Rahimi, another former vice president, was convicted [JURIST report] of corruption and embezzlement last year. The recent arrests are part of efforts by President Hassan Rouhani [Bio profile] to crackdown against alleged widespread corruption stemming from the former administration. Toward the end of the Ahmadinejad administration, multiple individuals close to the president were accused of perpetrating a one billion dollar bribery and embezzlement scheme, which led to death sentences for several conspirators.

Rouhani’s attack on corruption comes in light of Iran’s recent agreement [JURIST report] on a framework deal to restrict its nuclear plan in return for a reduction of international economic sanctions. Iranian leaders have repeatedly claimed [JURIST report] that the developing nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the international community, Israel in particular, worries that Iran’s enrichment program was designed for military purposes. Although these concerns about Iran’s motives may be assuaged by Rouhani’s attack on corruption, the ongoing trial [JURIST report] of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian gives reason for pause. Rezaian, a US-Iranian dual citizen has been detained in Iran for 10 months on charges of espionage and giving information to hostile governments. He was originally arrested without charges and held in the notorious Evin Prison in solitary confinement for the duration of his imprisonment, and allegedly Iran has presented no evidence to support the charges.