Continued Financial Corruption in Iran; Traces of 'Mafia' in Importing Two Million Tons of Rice with Cheap Currency

In the ongoing exposure of financial corruption in the Islamic Republic, two members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly pointed out that domestically produced rice is left unsold by farmers, providing details about violations in rice imports and the use of cheap currency by the 'rice mafia' for this purpose. Following the revelation of several large embezzlements, including the 'Dabesh tea' scandal, and amid reports of currency shortages for drug imports in Iran, the two members of parliament demanded an investigation into the import of 'two million tons of rice' using currency rates of 4200 tomans and 28,500 tomans by the Administrative Court of Audit. According to the 'Didban Iran' website, on Sunday, December 24, Jabbar Kouchakizadeh, a member of the Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission, announced that this violation occurred during the tenure of Javad Sadat-Nejad, the former Minister of Agriculture in Ibrahim Raisi's government. This parliament member added that currently, 'under the current presidency of the Central Bank,' the 'orders' for rice imports continue and 'they are importing again.' He stated that 'this two million tons [of rice] is being imported partly with preferential currency and partly with the 28,500 tomans currency and is sold at a higher price in the market.' Jabbar Kouchakizadeh called for an 'investigation and inquiry' into the 'rice import violations' and emphasized that this amount of imported rice is not needed by the country, and if it remains for a year, 'it will spoil,' and if used, 'farmers will have to throw their rice into the sea.' On the other hand, on December 19, Ali-Asghar Baqerzadeh, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly from the Babolsar constituency, referred to the production of 'three million tons of rice' domestically and stated in the open session of the parliament: 'Direct your patrols to the issue of rice imports,' as he claimed that 'similar to the Dabesh tea issue, similar violations have occurred in rice imports.' He emphasized that 'today we are facing a currency supply problem for drug imports,' urging 'supervisory bodies' to address the 'issue of rice imports and allocated currencies.' In recent days, Ahmad Tavakoli, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic, revealed in a letter to Ibrahim Raisi an 'unprecedented' rent regarding the issuance of import permits for 13 million tons of essential goods to a 'newcomer' company classified as 'completely confidential.' Some experts say that in the Islamic Republic, regardless of who the head of state is, an organized network of corruption and economic mafia continues to operate. In this regard, Mohammad Machinchi, a political economy expert, previously told Voice of America that the Dabesh tea embezzlement is 'the inevitable fruit of the rentier system' in the Islamic Republic and is not the only case of corruption in Iran.