Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 12, 2021—It is no secret that Iran’s regime is plagued by institutionalized financial corruption. According to Transparency International, Iran ranks 149 among 180 countries on the corruption perceptions index.
But it seems that every day, regime officials manage to surprise the people and the world by revealing new aspects of this phenomenon that has driven Iran’s economy into bankruptcy.
“Since the [1979] revolution, [Iran’s] governments have had $4 trillion in revenue, and 2-3 trillion of it has been destroyed by rent-seeking activities,” Mohammad Gharazi, a former minister and presidential candidate said on May 9, according to the Khabar Fouri website.
On May 3, during the session of the Supreme Judiciary Council, Ali Alghazi Mehr, the regime’s attorney general, acknowledged another major embezzlement case in the 2016-2018 period which involved $30.2 billion and 60 tons of gold and reported that a criminal case is being filed for Valiollah Seif, the former president of the Central Bank.
“Between 2016 and 2018, not only the country’s currency laws were breached, but also the legal responsibilities pertaining to the intervention of the Money and Credit Council on issues related to currency and the sale of gold coins to prevent the formation of brokerage markets were not respected,” Alghazi Mehr said on May 3, according to Eqtesad Online website.
Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Esmaili, the spokesperson of the judiciary branch, confirmed the arrest of 200 judiciary staff members on May 11. The semi-official ISNA news agency reported, “The counter-intelligence units of the judiciary identified 237 of the brokers and smugglers. The judiciary’s actions include the arrest of 161 judiciary attorneys and experts and more than 200 staff members from different departments of the judiciary as well as several heads of offices.”
This is just one of several scandal for the judiciary, which is ostensibly tasked with fighting corruption. Akbar Tabari, the former executive deputy of the judiciary chief, is charged with billions of dollars’ worth of corruption charges.
Regarding his relations with the second and third suspects in the embezzlement case, Tabari, who served under the former judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani, said during the trial, “I and [Hassan] Najafi and [Farhad] Mashayekh are like three brothers. If I need 8 trillion rials, these brothers will provide. If I want the Lavasan factory, they will register it under my name! This is friendship. If you don’t have these kinds of friends, you have nothing to say to me. If they want the same from me, I will do it for them.”
Corruption runs deep in the regime and a quick look at some of the known cases says a lot:
- Politician and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rafighdoost: 1.23 trillion rials
- The labor ministry of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 30 trillion rials
- Former general attorney Saeid Mortazavi: 32.5 trillion rials
- Babak Zanjani, a businessman with deep ties to many regime officials, including supreme leader Ali Khamenei: 180 trillion rials
- The Bonyad-e Shahid foundation: 80 trillion rials
These and many other cases prove that corruption and embezzlement are deeply ingrained in the structure of this regime. And the flipside of this mega-corruption is the tragic situation of the Iranian people, who have to find shelter in graves, food in garbage, and sell their body organs to earn their keep. With the revelation of every one of these cases, the people become even more outraged and determined to overthrow this regime and bring decency back to their country.
