Hossein Fereydoun, a key adviser to Rouhani, was arrested in Jul 2017 following long-running corruption allegations, with the judiciary saying at the time that he was the subject of “multiple investigations”.

At the first hearing on Tuesday, Fereydoun and four associates were present in court with their lawyers for a session that lasted more than two hours, Mizan Online said.

During the hearing a representative of the state prosecutor read out the indictment, it said, without giving further details.

A new hearing will be held next week, Mizan Online said without giving an exact date.

Fereydoun and his brother do not share the same name because Rouhani changed his when he was younger.

A day after his arrest in 2017, Fereydoun was released on bail, reported by local media to be millions of dollars.

The head of the General Inspection Organisation, Naser Seraj, had accused Fereydoun of financial violations.

Seraj alleged Fereydoun had influenced the appointment of two bank directors, one of whom was accused by the Revolutionary Guards of involvement in a “large corruption scandal”.

Conservatives had demanded that Fereydoun is put on trial, accusing him of receiving zero-interest loans among other violations.