Former South African Ambassador to Iran Arrested in Connection with MTN Tender Case

South African police announced on Friday, February 15, that Youssef Salouji, the former South African ambassador in Tehran, was arrested on charges of financial corruption related to the operating license of the telecommunications company MTN in Iran. According to Reuters, following the announcement of this arrest, the shares of MTN dropped. The South African police have accused Youssef Salouji of receiving a bribe of $100,000 during the collaboration to award the tender to MTN and Irancell while sidelining Turkcell in a tender in Iran. Reuters reports that the value of the 15-year operating license for MTN is $31.6 billion, and the police stated that while MTN was declared the winner of this tender, it originally placed second. MTN entered the Iranian mobile market in 2004 after surpassing its competitor Turkcell in the Irancell tender, acquiring 49% of its shares. Turkcell claims that MTN won the tender through certain actions, despite the fact that the tender had previously been awarded to Turkcell. In March 2012, Turkcell filed a lawsuit against MTN in a U.S. court, seeking $4.2 billion for losses incurred in the Irancell tender. According to statistics released by MTN, in 2011 alone, the profit from the Iranian market for MTN was $1.3 billion, equivalent to 9% of the company's total global profit.