Criminal Charges Filed Against Yashar Soltani Following His Report on 'Missing 61 Tons of Gold'

The judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office has filed criminal charges against Yashar Soltani, a journalist who has exposed various government corruptions, in relation to his recent report on the 'missing 61 tons of gold from the Central Bank.' Concurrently, on Tuesday, March 4, the Central Bank of Iran stated without clarifying the issues raised by Mr. Soltani that it would file a complaint against him in the appropriate judicial authorities. Yashar Soltani is known for exposing the so-called 'astronomical properties of Tehran Municipality,' related to the management of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and has published several investigative reports on corruption and rent-seeking in the country. He was arrested on the eve of the early presidential elections this year and announced his release on October 1. The Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, also reported on June 9 that Mr. Soltani has '17 complainants' in a case against him, with charges of 'eleven counts of spreading falsehoods with the intent to disturb public opinion,' resulting in a sentence of one year and two months in prison. On Sunday, Mr. Soltani published a report titled 'Missing 61 Tons of Gold from the Central Bank in One Year / The Ambiguous Fate of Imported Gold!' on his personal website, referencing customs statistics regarding the volume and price of gold, as well as the limited portion of it offered through the currency exchange center or coin issuance by the Central Bank. According to customs statistics, Iran imported over 81 tons of gold worth $6.3 billion in the first ten months of this year. Thus, the price of each kilogram of imported gold is about $78,000, which aligns with the semi-official exchange rate in the market and is even very close to the average exchange rate of the dollar in Iran's free market during these ten months. However, customs has stated that the equivalent rial value of the $6.3 billion of imported gold is about 180 trillion tomans, and Mr. Soltani has argued based on this data that gold bars were imported at the dollar rate of 28,500 tomans, thus the Central Bank profited 'from the people's pockets' by selling part of this imported gold at the official rate and has become 'the main cause of the decline in the value of the rial.' The 300% surge in Iran's gold imports; a method to circumvent sanctions. It is not clear why, while gold has been imported at the semi-official rate or even higher, customs has calculated its rial equivalent at the official rate, and the Central Bank has not provided any explanation regarding this issue in response to Mr. Soltani. Mr. Soltani has pointed out that according to official statistics, 4,283 kilograms of gold have been offered in the form of coins in the first ten months of this year, raising the question of why gold bars imported at the official rate of 28,500 tomans have been sold to the public at several times the price in the form of coins. He also referred to the auction statistics of gold bars from the Iranian exchange center, which indicated that only 15,805 kilograms of gold were sold during the mentioned period. Thus, only 20 tons of the 81 tons of imported gold have been offered to the market, and Mr. Soltani, by raising the issue of 'missing 61 tons of gold,' stated: 'We do not know where this gold is and which organization or entity it is in.' The Central Bank, without providing transparent information regarding these questions, has only referred to Mr. Soltani's criminal record and stated that it would file a complaint against him. The Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, also claimed on Tuesday that after Mr. Soltani's presence at the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office, the judicial authority requested the submission of documents and evidence, and he 'did not provide any documents or evidence regarding the missing 61 tons of gold from the Central Bank, and for this reason, due to false claims by Yashar Soltani, charges were filed against him, and a judicial case was opened.' Yashar Soltani denied this news from the news agency on his X account, stating that after being summoned, he provided 'all documents based on reports from the Central Bank's website, the Iranian customs website, and the country's currency exchange system' to the deputy prosecutor.