Iran judiciary says 138 staff removed or convicted for corruption
Iran’s judiciary dismissed or convicted 138 employees for corruption in the past year, the head of its Protection and Intelligence Center, Ali Abdollahi, said on Wednesday.
Iran’s judiciary dismissed or convicted 138 employees for corruption in the past year, the head of its Protection and Intelligence Center, Ali Abdollahi, said on Wednesday.
Between March 20 last year and now—covering the current Iranian year—"nearly 400 cases involving lawyers and legal experts were sent to disciplinary or judicial bodies for rulings,” he added.
The announcement comes amid a separate high-profile case in Tehran, where 20 people — including six judiciary staff, five lawyers, four notaries and five legal consultants — were arrested this month over bribery and influence-peddling linked to a major judicial complex.
Authorities said the group engaged in “structured bribery, corruption, and manipulation of legal outcomes,” seizing gold, jewelry and foreign currency in related raids.
Abdollahi also said on Wednesday that over 30,000 fugitives with criminal records were also identified and arrested using a traffic-monitoring system.
Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei praised the anti-corruption efforts but questioned whether current measures were enough to deter wrongdoing.
“The Judiciary’s Protection Department has made every effort to ensure there is the least possible corruption within the judicial system. Have our actions been insufficient, or does it have another aspect?” he said on Wednesday.
Iran’s judiciary has faced mounting scrutiny after Transparency International ranked the country 151 out of 180 nations in its 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index — its lowest standing since the ranking began.
The watchdog cited entrenched political control, suppression of dissent, and misuse of public funds.
In May, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected the notion of systemic corruption, calling the system “healthy” while acknowledging corruption as a persistent challenge.
His comments followed US President Donald Trump’s remarks that Iran’s leadership had “stolen their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad.”
