Iran's Justice Minister: Executing Zanjani Will Not Recover Funds

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Justice Minister of Hassan Rouhani's government, states that executing Babak Zanjani will not assist in the recovery of assets in his possession and that there are "more important priorities" in this matter. This is not the first time an Iranian official has commented on the execution of Mr. Zanjani and its impact on the return of his assets. In the previous Esfand month, Hossein Dehdashti, head of the committee following Zanjani's case in the ninth parliament, mentioned that with Zanjani's execution, "influential individuals" and "the hands behind the scenes" in this case would be "forgotten." He urged the judiciary to postpone the execution of the defendants in this case until "they confess to the hands behind the scenes." On 18 Ordibehesht, Pourmohammadi stated in a television program, "In Babak Zanjani's case, what is more important for the public: the punishment of Babak Zanjani or the return of the money?" He then added, "Now suppose the accused is executed. Does this issue bring money to the country? Of course, this does not mean that the offender should not be tried, but there is a more important priority." In mid-Farvardin, Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh, Zanjani's lawyer, said that the "trustees" of his assets abroad, upon learning of the issuance of the death sentence, are unwilling to return his assets. A few days prior, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary spokesperson, told Mehr News Agency that if Zanjani pays his debts, it "will definitely have an impact on his sentence." However, he added that according to "the officials of the case," he "has not cooperated sufficiently." Babak Zanjani has been accused of charges such as "corruption on earth" and disrupting the country's economic system, large-scale fraud against the National Iranian Oil Company, or money laundering amounting to 1.967 billion euros. He is also accused of having received "one million barrels of oil worth 300 million euros" from the Iranian oil company and having paid "160 million euros" of the 2.7 billion euros he was obligated to pay, spending the remainder on personal matters. Last solar year, the primary court issued a death sentence for him and two other defendants.