Jahangiri's Account of Another 'Economic Corruption' in Ahmadinejad's Government and the Disappearance of 30 Million Dollars

Es'hagh Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran, reported on Tuesday, September 2, about another economic corruption case in which, according to him, 30 million dollars have gone missing. In his explanation of this economic corruption, Jahangiri did not name any specific individual or mention a date, stating: 'At one time, a group decided to bring money from a foreign country during the sanctions. They were handed 130 million dollars at the central bank there and boarded the plane. When they returned to Iran, they delivered 100 million dollars to the central bank. When asked what happened to the 30 million dollars, they say they don’t know, it’s missing.' He emphasized that this 30 million dollars is still 'missing' and added that for the sake of 'not upsetting the people,' many issues are not disclosed. Jahangiri stated that corruption in the country has become 'systemic' and expressed that it is essential for this government to be law-abiding for the country to become lawful. The Vice President also referred to the case of Babak Zanjani, known as the 'oil corruption case,' accusing him of obtaining 2.7 billion dollars through 'collusion' to distribute among contractors but later claimed he could not distribute this money due to sanctions on his bank. Jahangiri continued, saying, 'That bank was fictitious, and it must be determined who wrote and signed to allow such a large amount of money to be placed in this bank.' Babak Zanjani, who reportedly assisted Ahmadinejad's government in circumventing Western banking sanctions, was arrested on December 30, 2013, following a complaint from Iran's Ministry of Oil. He was recognized as 'corrupt on earth' by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court and was sentenced to death, restitution of property, and a cash fine. This case has been sent for reconsideration to the Supreme Court. The issuance of the death sentence for Babak Zanjani has faced various reactions, including Mustafa Pourmohammadi, Iran's Minister of Justice, stating on May 8 that 'Zanjani's execution will not recover the money.' Meanwhile, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced on Tuesday that he agreed to transfer Babak Zanjani's assets, valued at 200 trillion tomans, to the Ministry of Oil. However, Jahangiri stated that the dimensions of the Babak Zanjani case have not yet been fully revealed, adding, 'Not even one of those who made a fuss over million-toman salaries came to address this issue. While dozens of films could be made and books written about this story.' The First Vice President of Iran remarked that the government came to power in difficult circumstances, stating, 'The government's economic achievements have been significant... but there are still problems that require time to resolve.' The issue of high salaries has been raised by media close to conservatives for several months, initially revealing the salary slips of some managers at Iran's Central Insurance, which led to the resignation of the head of this insurance. In the following weeks, salary slips of managers from the Ministry of Health, the CEO of Refah Bank, the National Development Fund, managers of Bank Tejarat, and the CEO of the Steel Pension Fund were published. The spokesperson for Hassan Rouhani's government apologized for the high salaries of some government managers, and President Hassan Rouhani also ordered an investigation into this matter. The Court of Audit, responsible for addressing the so-called 'astronomical salaries' case, reported the formation of 123 cases regarding 'illegal' salary and benefit payments from 2011 to 2015, stating that these cases have led to the return of these salaries to the government and the correction of employment regulations. The total amount of the cases reported by the prosecutor of the Court of Audit is approximately 5,500 billion tomans.