Jahangiri: Babak Zanjani is Bullying and Refusing to Return the Money

Es'hagh Jahangiri, the first vice president of Iran, stated that Babak Zanjani, despite spending 'one year' in prison, is still 'bullying' and refusing to return the 'money he has taken.' This is the second time that the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani has referred to Babak Zanjani in this manner. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Mr. Jahangiri said on Saturday, September 28, in the city of Birjand, that Babak Zanjani 'received 2.7 billion dollars at one point and has not returned it.' The amount mentioned by Mr. Jahangiri is exactly the figure previously cited by the Minister of Oil in Rouhani's government, who stated that this amount has ultimately 'disappeared' in Zanjani's 'fake bank.' The first vice president added, 'This gentleman at one point proposed to the Social Security Organization that he would pay 4.2 billion euros for the purchase of companies belonging to this organization, and according to an agreement made in this regard, he would pay this amount hypothetically and on paper.' According to Es'hagh Jahangiri, Mr. Zanjani received a 'guarantee check equivalent to 17 trillion tomans' from the Social Security Organization, headed by Saeed Mortazavi, which he continues to 'bully' and refuse to repay. Mr. Jahangiri had also mentioned in the past that Babak Zanjani is 'bullying' and refusing to repay his debts to the government. Babak Zanjani, who rose to prominence in Iran in the mid-2000s, owned dozens of economic and financial companies both inside and outside Iran, which helped the Islamic Republic circumvent international sanctions during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. Zanjani was praised by Hassan Rouhani, the current president, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council. However, after Rouhani's government came to power, Zanjani was arrested in January 2014 on charges of financial and economic corruption and has been in Evin prison ever since. During this time, he has repeatedly claimed that he is 'innocent' and has only 'helped the system' as an 'economic Basij.' In this context, half of the cash in Babak Zanjani's possession 'has not returned to the treasury.' The case against Babak Zanjani in the Revolutionary Court has reached '200,000 pages.' Raisi: The Zanjani case is under review, and no one can intervene in it. Ahmadinejad: Apparently, everyone is free to lie against the ninth and tenth governments.