PourMohammadi: No Major Corruption Cases Formed in the Last 20 Months

Mostafa PourMohammadi, Iran's Minister of Justice, stated on Friday, June 15, that "no major corruption cases have been formed in the country in the past 20 months, and any major corruption cases that exist are from before." Speaking as a pre-sermon speaker at Friday prayers in Arak, PourMohammadi emphasized that "efforts have been made in the past 20 months to ensure that the government does not expand or grow." The Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhani's government had previously described "preventing the expansion of corruption" as the government's most significant achievement. He also expressed skepticism about the formation of an "Anti-Corruption Organization" that some members of parliament are pursuing, stating that "the establishment of this organization will not help in the fight against corruption." Several members of parliament have drafted a proposal that, if passed by the parliament and approved by the Guardian Council, would establish a supra-governmental organization tasked with combating economic corruption in Iran. According to a 2014 report by Transparency International, Iran ranked 144 out of 175 countries on the list, showing an improvement of eight places compared to its position in the 2013 report. In another part of his remarks, PourMohammadi referred to Iran's foreign trade performance in the first two months of this year, stating: "Iran's trade balance during this period has been positive, with exports exceeding last year's figures by $1.5 billion." Masoud Karbasian, Deputy Minister of Economy and head of Iran's Customs, had previously announced that the preliminary statistics for non-oil exports until the end of May 2015 amounted to $7.7 billion. The Deputy Minister of Economy reported that imports to Iran during this same period exceeded $5.5 billion, indicating a positive trade balance of $2.2 billion for Iran's foreign trade in the first two months of this year. Valiollah Afkhami Rad, Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade and head of Iran's Trade Development Organization, stated on June 11 in an interview with IRNA that Iran's non-oil exports in the first two months of the year were about $8 billion, which, according to this official, represents a 2.7% decrease compared to the same period last year. However, some economic experts have criticized the calculation of figures related to the export of gas condensates and petrochemical products in the list of Iran's non-oil exports, arguing that these products, which are considered oil-based productions, should not be included in the calculations related to non-oil exports.