As the scheduled date for the Iranian regime’s sham parliamentary election approaches, the pure disgrace and corruption that has engulfed the foundation of the regime becomes more evident.
The more the regime tries to hide its most scandalous political corruptions, the more they become evident. A prominent example is disqualifying rivals of Iranian regime president Ebrahim Raisi in his electoral district and turning it into a one-person show. The disgrace is so extreme that even the regime’s agents mock it.
Moreover, Raisi’s so-called “fight against corruption” has become so corrupt itself that on January 27, the state-run Etemad newspaper wrote, “It is evident that this approach is not about being anti-corruption, but rather an attempt to silence others.”
During this election, rivals are revealing new documents of embezzlement, corruption, and plunder about each other every day. It has reached a point where on January 24, the state-run Sharq newspaper, wrote, “They talk about fighting corruption, but not all types of corruption and unacceptable privileges are being addressed. They talk about the right to be elected and to choose, but there is no place for being elected.”
One example of this escalating cycle of corruption in the electoral battle is a report published in the the state-run Arman newspaper on January 20, titled, “The Connection between Debsh Tea and the Missing Saadabad Carpets.”
Reviewing this report and familiarizing oneself with the reactions related to the case of the disappearance of 48 exquisite and valuable handwoven carpets remaining from palaces of the ousted shah, worth 1.27 trillion rials, provides a clear picture of the swamp of regime corruption during the election circus.
In a section of this report, a tourism reporter for the IRGC-run Fars News Agency writes that the carpets “were taken out of the building during the years 2013 to 2016. One of the witnesses, who had responsibility for the Hafeziyeh building during that time, said: ‘In 2016, the carpets were taken away with a Mazda van. Then, Rouhani and Ahmadinejad get involved, and it is stated that ‘in the current year (referring to 2016), the legal deputy of the president identified 9 suspects in the case of the missing Saadabad carpets.’ Referring to the formation of a legal case regarding this matter, he said: ‘One of the high-ranking members of the previous government and his son are among the main suspects in the disappearance of the Saadabad carpets.’ However, apparently, the Rouhani administration not only denies its own role in the carpet’s disappearance but also points to the role of the Ahmadinejad administration.”
Although the report is ambiguously worded, the identities of the carpet thief and his nine accomplices are entirely clear. According to the documents in this report, the thief of the 1.27 trillion rials worth of carpets is so “senior” that they cannot disclose his name, and the location of the carpet transfer is simply mentioned as “home.” Then, referring to a tweet by Ehsan Salehi, the Secretary of the Government Information Council, it is stated: “The confusion of the suspects about the news of the disappearance of 48 exquisite carpets from Saadabad is understandable, but not to the extent that they become so careless that they lose track of the year and month and claim that the incident dates back to before the eleventh government.”
The more this case unfolds, the more people are implicated, and the depth of regime corruption becomes more evident. During it all, the response from the Rouhani administration is nothing short of a spectacle.
By highlighting the corruption of Debsh Tea, Rouhani’s website refers to Raisi and writes, “The people do not forget the Debsh Tea case; it is better for them to answer about the 3.5-billion-dollar corruption. The matter of the missing Saadabad carpets was reported by the special inspection of the previous government, not that the thirteenth government discovered it.”
These are just a few examples of the hundreds of corruption cases and astronomical thefts that have been exposed due to the turmoil and power struggles among factions during the runup to the sham parliamentary elections. They are a glimpse into the electoral corruption and the swamp of corruption that engulfs the entire regime.
