Jahangiri: Ahmadinejad's Government Sent $22 Billion Abroad to Control Currency Prices

Es'hagh Jahangiri, the first vice president of Iran, stated that during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tenth government, $22 billion was sent to Dubai and Istanbul to control currency fluctuations. He described the transfer of such a large amount of oil revenues abroad as 'surprising.' According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Jahangiri, speaking on Saturday, January 17, at the 43rd meeting of private sector activists of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, said: 'Based on the previous government's policy to control the currency price, billions of dollars of the country's money were sold in the form of remittances or cash to exchange offices in Dubai and Istanbul, and within 17 months, $22 billion was exported abroad, which is indeed a very surprising figure.' Jahangiri referred to a period when, following the intensification of oil and financial sanctions against Iran by the U.S. and the European Union, the value of the rial sharply fell against other currencies, including the dollar. He previously mentioned the 'illegal expenditure of about $300 billion from $800 billion in oil revenues' during the ninth and tenth governments, adding that despite announcing the policy of transferring oil sales to the private sector in the previous government, oil sales were never entrusted to a real private sector. This was while $2.7 billion of the country's money was handed over to an individual named Babak Zanjani, who was either given this money or oil to distribute among oil sales contractors. Jahangiri also criticized the Ahmadinejad government's approach toward cooperating with individuals like Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman currently in prison, stating that it must be clarified how such individuals entered the country's economic system. Jahangiri said: 'I do not know how a young man entered the country's economic system and was given $2.7 billion of the country's money in cash or oil. If this money is not returned to the country, it will bring disgrace to the country. The people are waiting for us to announce when this money will return to the country.' Babak Zanjani, who is said to have cooperated with Iran's Ministry of Oil during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in selling oil and transferring its money after the intensification of international sanctions against Iran, was arrested last year on charges of failing to pay his debts to the Iranian Ministry of Oil and was transferred to Evin Prison. Jahangiri mentioned the relationship between Babak Zanjani and Ahmadinejad's government officials, saying: 'I have heard that when this person went to the Central Bank, the head of the Central Bank would leave the meeting to talk to him, and ministers were also like that. One must ask who was behind the scenes, and these hidden hands must be revealed.' Akbar Hashemi, head of the Expediency Discernment Council, previously stated that Hassan Rouhani's government cannot report the 'depth of inherited problems' to the people. Hashemi Rafsanjani added: 'Only occasionally are pieces of the iceberg of corruption mentioned, and to prevent enemies from taking advantage, all issues are avoided from being stated.' According to the report by 'Transparency International,' Iran ranked 136th in the 'Global Corruption Perception Index' among 175 countries and regions in 2014. Previously, with the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, Iran's rank in the 'Corruption Perception Index' fell until 2009, reaching its worst position at 168th in the world that year. Iran's best position in the past two decades dates back to 2003 when the country was ranked 78th.