Inspection Organization Calls for 'Expulsion of Dual Nationals from Executive Bodies'

The head of the Inspection Organization of Iran states that most of the individuals who have fled the country hold dual citizenship, and this organization has requested their expulsion from executive bodies in a report prepared for the three branches of government. The state news agency IRNA reported that Nasser Saraj, the head of the Inspection Organization, announced on Sunday in Bushehr that individuals with dual nationality are 'at ease regarding their families residing in another country, which is why when they engage in corruption, they flee overnight, making it difficult to track and return them to the country.' He also mentioned the Inspection Organization's report regarding the 'leave' of dual nationals from executive bodies, adding that 'good measures have been taken to ensure that those who have plundered the country's assets are returned to the country.' Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, and it remains unclear how many employees or managers in executive bodies may hold dual nationality. It is also unclear if Mr. Saraj referred to any specific individual regarding dual nationality, but among the accused in the notorious 3,000 billion toman corruption case, Mahmoudreza Khavari, the then CEO of Bank Melli Iran, is mentioned, who fled to Canada after the case was exposed, and Iran's efforts to extradite him have so far been unsuccessful. In late June of this year, Iran's Minister of Justice announced that Canada was not cooperating with the Islamic Republic to return Mr. Khavari, but expressed hope that 'something new would happen in this regard in the future.' At that time, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail suggested that the Iranian government might be using the detention of Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian professor at Concordia University, as leverage against the Canadian government. Homa Hoodfar, 65, was arrested on June 7 after being summoned to the Security Prosecutor's Office in Tehran, and in early July, the Tehran prosecutor announced that she was accused of 'engaging in feminism and security crimes.' Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi reported a few weeks later that an indictment had been issued for Ms. Hoodfar along with several other dual nationals and sent to court. The head of the Inspection Organization also referred to the case of 'astronomical salaries' in his remarks in Bushehr, stating that 'the first astronomical salaries were discovered in insurance and one of the semi-private banks.' He added without naming anyone that 'according to the received report, it was found that 2,340 million rials were deposited into his account last Esfand, and upon inquiry, they claimed that this payment was related to arrears.' This case seems to refer to Ali Sedghi, the then head of Bank Refah Kargaran, who was reported to have been dismissed in July and 240 million tomans of his salary and benefits returned to the treasury. At that time, Mr. Sedghi stated that Bank Refah is a private bank with the Social Security Organization as one of its shareholders and that the mentioned amount related to his account turnover, which was published under the name of a salary slip. Meanwhile, the public relations manager of Bank Refah also stated that 'this amount was not only Mr. Sedghi's salary for Esfand but also included all his salary arrears from 1394 that were deposited into his account that month.' Now, Mr. Saraj has said that efforts are being made to send the final report of this case 'within two days' to the prosecutor's office. In the so-called 'astronomical salaries' scandal, Hassan Rouhani's government has announced that it has 'dismissed or transferred 15 individuals' and has also 'ordered some managers to resign.' However, the judiciary spokesperson stated that 'if the offenders have committed a crime, the government's other task is to refer them to the judiciary and recover the money,' but 'so far, not a single case of these violations has been referred to the judiciary, nor has it been stated how much money has been returned.' In this context, a member of parliament stated: 'Dual nationals are of serious concern to enemy intelligence services.' A renewed warning from the U.S. to its citizens, especially dual nationals, regarding travel to Iran. Issuance of an indictment for the dual national case. The police commander of Mazandaran stated: 'Dual nationals leave the Velayat-e Faqih alone.'