Ahmadinejad's Government Gave $20 Billion of Foreign Revenue to 'Certain Currency Dealers'

A member of Hassan Rouhani's government stated that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration had given '$20 billion of the government's foreign revenue' to 'certain specific currency dealers' to keep the dollar rate low through their sales, resulting in 'very large sums' benefiting them. Mohammad Ali Najafi, Secretary of the Economic Coordination Headquarters of the government, emphasized in an interview with the August 10 issue of Shargh newspaper that this action did not lead to a decrease in currency prices at that time; rather, the price 'increased every day.' Mr. Najafi raised questions about this action by the previous government, asking, 'Was there really control that all this amount of currency entered the market, or was part of it sold in foreign markets?' He stressed that the selection process of these individuals and their connections with 'government officials' must be clarified, as 'very large sums of money have benefited these few specific individuals.' According to Mr. Najafi, previous statements by Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani's government, regarding this matter are one of the reasons for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's complaint against Mr. Jahangiri, while 'documents and evidence' related to this action exist. He emphasized that Mr. Jahangiri's statements are 'substantiated' by the country's official statistics and reports, some of which are from the Central Bank during 'Ahmadinejad's era.' Ahmadinejad's government had given '$20 billion of the government's foreign revenue' to 'certain specific currency dealers' to keep the dollar rate low through their sales, resulting in 'very large sums' benefiting them. Adeel Heydari, Ahmadinejad's lawyer, has reported filing a complaint against the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani's government, and Mr. Jahangiri's office has stated that it 'welcomes' this complaint. Eshaq Jahangiri stated on December 9, 2014, that 'in the previous government, in less than 18 months, about $22 billion of currency was taken out of the country under the pretext of wanting to control its price domestically and was sold in the markets of Istanbul and Dubai.' In October of that year, Arsalan Fathipour, the head of the Economic Commission of the Iranian Parliament, stated that 'three currency dealers' had made a profit of '7 trillion tomans' using 'the Central Bank's rent.' The accusations raised by the officials of Hassan Rouhani's government and members of Parliament come at a time when, in 2012, after a sudden increase in the prices of foreign currencies in the Iranian market, government officials accused some currency dealers of disrupting the currency market. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself introduced 22 unnamed individuals as the 'ring leaders of the currency market chaos' in October of that year. In this context, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's First Vice President, also announced on October 22, 2012, the arrest of an individual named 'Jamshid Bismillah,' who he claimed was responsible for disrupting the Iranian currency market and 'determined the currency prices in Iran on a stool.' Jamshid Mirabi, whom Mr. Rahimi referred to as 'Jamshid Bismillah,' denied the accusations against him in an interview with the economic newspaper Te'adol in July 2014, stating that he had been arrested in October 2012 along with 90 others. Ahmadinejad's complaints are described as a 'forward escape for re-entering' the political arena. Mr. Najafi, in another part of his remarks, stated that economic corruption existed 'on a large scale' in the previous government and had become 'institutionalized in many agencies.' He also described Ahmadinejad's complaints against members of Hassan Rouhani's government as a 'forward escape for his re-entry' into the political arena, which, according to him, 'will of course receive an appropriate response.' Abdolreza Davari, one of Ahmadinejad's close associates, reported on August 6 that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief of staff, is suing Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Iran's Minister of Justice. Mr. Pourmohammadi had stated a day earlier that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei had a 'significant role' in the $3 billion embezzlement case. Previously, Adeel Heydari, Ahmadinejad's lawyer, had stated that he would file a complaint against Mohammad Ashrafi Isfahani, the head of the initial committee investigating administrative violations at the Presidential Office, due to his remarks about Hamid Baghaei, Ahmadinejad's executive deputy. Mr. Ashrafi Isfahani had previously stated, citing 'the words of one of the country's security officials,' that Hamid Baghaei had 'taken assets out of the country' and 'invested in ten foreign countries.' Hamid Baghaei was arrested on Tuesday, June 8, and Ali-Asghar Hosseini, one of Baghaei's defense lawyers, described his client's accusation as 'embezzlement.' In his interview, Mr. Najafi also referred to Babak Zanjani's debt to the Iranian government, confirming that four members of Ahmadinejad's cabinet had signed an order that 'this amount would be provided to him in dollars,' 'without any guarantees or commitments... or oversight.' Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the committee following Babak Zanjani's case in Parliament, has repeatedly accused the Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Economy, Central Bank Governor, and Minister of Oil of Ahmadinejad's government of being 'involved' in Babak Zanjani's case. Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for Iran's judiciary, announced on October 6, 2014, that 'investigations' are underway regarding three ministers and the Central Bank Governor of Ahmadinejad's government in relation to Babak Zanjani's case. Previously, officials in Hassan Rouhani's government had announced Babak Zanjani's debt to be around 8,600 billion tomans.