IRGC Intelligence Arrests Former CEO of Bank Mellat and His Deputy

Fars and Tasnim news agencies, close to the IRGC, reported that Ali Rastgar, the former CEO of Bank Mellat who resigned during the issue of government executives' salary slips, and his international deputy have been arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization. These agencies claimed in their report on Tuesday, July 29, that 'a banking corruption network has been discovered' in which Mr. Rastgar is 'one of the members of this gang.' The report did not provide further details about the allegations against the former CEO of Bank Mellat. ISNA news agency also confirmed the arrest of this former banking executive, citing Tehran prosecutor Jafari Dolat Abadi, adding that Ali Rastgar was arrested on Monday night. The arrest comes a few days after statements by Hossein Taeb, the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, who said that the organization is 'monitoring the behind-the-scenes economic violations' in Iran. On July 22, Taeb told Tasnim that the IRGC Intelligence Organization 'will engage with major economic corruption cases as in the past' and added that the organization 'currently has serious cases on its agenda.' Following the publication of salary slips of government executives under Hassan Rouhani's administration, including managers of several banks, Ali Rastgar resigned from his position. Tasnim had previously reported that Rastgar's monthly salary was '37 million tomans.' The agency also noted that he 'received at least $125,000 and £200,000 from two companies abroad over 11 months in 2015, totaling over 1.4 billion tomans.' Meanwhile, some conservative media outlets pointed out that Rastgar was born in Sarakheh, the birthplace of Hassan Rouhani, and accused Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of the Iranian president, of having a role in promoting him to the position of CEO of Bank Mellat. Previously, Nasser Saraj, the head of the General Inspection Organization, had also stated that Ali Sedghi, the dismissed CEO of Bank Refah, was appointed to the position due to 'pressure and lobbying' from Hossein Fereydoun, the special assistant to the president. Fereydoun and Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, have denied these allegations. Fereydoun has also stated that he reserves the right to pursue legal action for defamation and insult. The arrest of the Bank Mellat CEO occurs while on Tuesday, Ali Yunusi, the special assistant to the president for ethnic and religious minorities, stated that the purpose of publishing the salary slips of government executives was to 'defame' and 'distract' the government and influence next year's presidential elections. Majid Ansari, the Iranian vice president, also accused government opponents on July 19 of trying to 'cover up or forget the legendary massive corruption cases' by stirring up the issue of executives' salary slips. Earlier, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesperson, on June 15, in response to reports against Rouhani's government, including 'hundreds of millions of tomans salaries' of several executives, mentioned the existence of a 'think tank' formed with 'political motivations' against the government, which 'determines what should happen every Saturday.' The Research Center of the Iranian Parliament, in a report, referred to the issue of 'unconventional' salaries of some executives as 'precedent' and accused the previous government of 'negligence or indifference' regarding this issue, stating that several government agencies were exempt from laws related to government employees' salaries. Meanwhile, some websites reported that the Ministry of Economy had mandated all subordinate agencies to publish the salaries and wages of Ahmadinejad's government executives. Malek Hosseini, an advisor to the minister and head of the Public Relations Center of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, denied these reports on Tuesday.