The $3.7 Billion Corruption Case Is Tip of Iceberg, Says Academic
Some media outlets and commentators in Iran have argued that a recent $3.7 billion corruption case is only one case among tens of others, offering very high estimates.
Some media outlets and commentators in Iran have argued that a recent $3.7 billion corruption case is only one case among tens of others, offering very high estimates.
In a report on Khabar Online website, Iranian academic Mohammad Hossein Gharib suggested that the largest corruption cases in Iran have occurred after 2005 when populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first came to power. Ahmadinejad brought with him individuals, who quickly proved adept at using their government positions to get rich.
These cases include a $6 billion corruption case resulting from Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani's efforts to help the government bypass international sanctions and sell Iran's oil in in the international markets. A $7.2 billion case at the Iranian Insurance Company, a $5.3 billion embezzlement case at the Iranian Teachers' Pension Fund, and a one-billion-dollar embezzlement case about financial irregularities in importing poultry feed. All of these occurred when the rate of exchange for US dollar was around 30,000 rials per dollar.
The most recent case, amounting to $3.7 billion, was even larger considering the exchange rate at the time was over 500,000 rials per dollar. The report attributed this corruption to a centralized government economy, attempts to circumvent sanctions, the government's granting of concessions to its loyalists, and the traditional practice of nepotism.
Former lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told local media on Saturday that at least $57 billion has been embezzled by government officials and operatives in the past two decades.
A report on Faraz daily website, investigated the role of former Agriculture Minister Javad Sadatinejad in the Debsh Tea corruption case, while describing the case as the tip of the iceberg of financial corruption in the government of President Ebrahim Raisi. However, the website added that Raisi has tried to blame the previous government under President Hassan Rouhani and the Iranian Judiciary for the case.
According to the report, Raisi claimed that his government had detected and stopped the embezzlement, leading to the firing of around 60 managers whose cases were sent to the Judiciary. However, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei later contradicted this claim, stating that the government had not implicated anyone in the case.
The report also revealed that the Judiciary was the entity that initially exposed the corruption case, and Ejei disclosed that Sadatinejad had been forced to resign when signs of financial corruption became public. Ejei further revealed that despite ongoing corruption since 2019, additional funds were channelled to the Debsh Tea company by the government as recently as 2022, with Vice President Mokhber implicated in media reports as the facilitator. The report suggested that Mokhber may have tipped off Sadatinejad to resign.
Meanwhile, centrist Aftab News quoted Farshid Mohebbi, the managing director of the Union of Tea Planters in northern Iran as saying that the Iranian state TV pulled him off the air when he started to say that even the tea served at Iranian government offices is imported because the government does not wish to support domestic producers.
He revealed that Debsh Tea Company, mixed outdated Iranian tea with imported foreign tea and exported the blend to countries such as Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Russia although its officials knew that their product was carcinogenic.
Reformist commentator Abbas Abdi criticized the government's approach to the annual budget, noting that the Raisi Administration tends to present bills "for approval" rather than inviting parliamentary review. He argued that the recent rejection of the budget by the Majles (parliament) was a message to the government that parliament should have a say in bills presented.
Abdi also stated that by rejecting the budget bill, the parliament (Majles) wanted to make it known to the government that it has a say and can decide the fate of bills handed over by the government.
He pointed out that the development showed efforts for the unification of the government and parliament within a consolidated ultraconservative governing clique have remained futile.
The commentator was referring to efforts since 2020 to eliminate those who do not belong to the hardliner camp from positions of power. Majles is dominated by ultraconservatives, who also have a strong presence in the presidential administration.
Abdi explained that because of the nature of Iran’s parliamentary system, with no political parties governing the legislature, every lawmaker imposes a heavy burden on the budget to meet their own local and factional interests.
The dynamics between the parliament and the government is badly affected by the two factors of corruption and inefficiency, Abdi maintained, adding that rejecting the budget bill will not solve any problem. "Basically, the current parliament is unable to solve the problem between the two bodies and it needs to find another way to solve the dispute," headed.
Conservative commentator Nasser Imani, during a debate on Khabar Online, argued that Iran's electoral system fails to produce an efficient parliament. He noted the absence of political parties in Iran and the restrictions they face, especially since 2020 when many reformist and moderate candidates were disqualified.
Imani said, "Practically, we do not have any political parties in Iran. Those that exit are not allowed to have any election-related activity other than presenting a list of candidates ahead of every election."
In fact, even that has not been possible since 2020 when reformist and moderate candidates were effectively barred from taking part in elections as nearly all of their well-known candidates were disqualified either by the Interior Ministry or the Guardian Council.
"When we do not have political parties we cannot expect a lively election mood, and we cannot even ensure that the government has a mechanism to listen to the people and their demands," Imani said. He argued that "We have a parliament in which political parties are not represented. This is unprecedented in the world's parliamentary systems. In the absence of political parties with defined plans and platforms, unknown figures with little if any qualifications find their way to the parliament and then they have to discuss key issues such as annual budget."
Meanwhile, Mohammad Atrianfar, who was debating Imani, called for changes to reverse the current trajectory. “If we conclude that we cannot return from that wrong path, then we have to accept that there is no way for reform-minded people like me to participate in political activities in Iran."
Atrianfar argued that "If we want to be politically active, there are only three ways ahead of us: Either we should take action for a regime change, or we need to call for reforms. The third way is just to be passive."
He argued that reforms aim to improve the situation and cited former President Hassan Rouhani as an example of someone with a conservative background who pursued reformist goals by working to improve the country's situation.
In summary, many conservative and reformist commentators in Iran are critical of the country's electoral system, citing issues related to the budget, the absence of political parties, and the need for reforms to address governance challenges.