Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Jan. 14, 2019 – The Iranian regime is airing news about the execution of people involved in huge economic corruption cases. Those persons were merchants with close ties to Iranian authorities. The regime’s media have named such people “Sultans” describing the high amount of money they have stolen through bribes and their links in the regime’s hierarchy. But the real story behind their exposure and execution is to hiding the larger corruption that stems from the regime itself.
The Iranian regime executed Hamid Mazlumin, known as Sultan of Coins, Hamid Darmani, known as Sultan of Bitumen, and several of their partners. Afterward, the spokesperson of the regime’s judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezhe'I announced the names of 31 merchants, including two physicians, who were charged with corruption and systematic smuggling.
The physicians, known as “Sultans of Medical Equipment,” founded seven companies and were behind the import of low-quality medical equipment inside Iran. Previously, and in a rare action, the Food & Drug Administration, which is a branch of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, had provided the physicians individual import licenses – such licenses are only provided to government-run companies.
On December 31, 2018, Tehran’s police Chief Hossein Rahimi announced the arrest of what he called “Sultan of Paper.” Rahimi told media that the Sultan of Paper had a hand in the import of paper along with 16 other persons. “They imported 30,000 tons of paper at government dollar exchange rate, but they sold the paper in Iran’s free market. They also directly sold some of the dollars in the free market.” (Tasnim state-run news agency- January 1, 2019)
The fact is that nobody can pull such schemes in Iran without having a link with the regime’s officials or at least by paying heavy bribes to the regime’s high ranking officials.
The Iranian regime’s judiciary intentionally hides the details of corruption dossiers and studies the first layers of files, because if it does so, there’s a likely chance that senior regime officials will have to be prosecuted in the next steps. The corruption at the highest levels of power in Iran is not a secret anymore as Iranian officials occasionally expose the corruption of their rivals in their feuds.
In 2017, during a presidential election debate broadcasted on TV, the candidates accused each other of corruption. Corruption has become second nature the regime’s officials, and even during the presidential elections, candidates complained about the “dirty money” spent in their rivals’ campaigns.
Corruption and bribery are the characteristics of the regime’s nature. This is how Iranian regime officials can fill their pockets with billions of dollars and put it in their bank accounts outside Iran or spend it for the expansion of terrorism.
That is why we can see some shocking examples of corruption: The $12 million embezzlement case of Shahram Jazayeri, a regime-linked merchant; the embezzlement in the Retirement Organization; the embezzlement in Iran’s TV broadcast network, worth $15,000; the Sepid Ostovar Organization bribe, worth €650 million, to the Iran’s Central Bank; the bribe taken by 170 MPs from the regime’s previous vice president; the embezzlement case worth $1.2 million in Khomeini Relief Foundation; the embezzlement of $800 million in Teachers Investment Fund; the missing of $2 million in Tehran’s municipality; and tons of examples as such.
Meanwhile, regime’s high ranking officials sacrifice the Sultans and other pawns in their schemes to hide the reality and the root of corruption in Iran.
