Reza Zarrab, Iranian-Turkish Trader, Arrested in the U.S.

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish trader, was arrested in Florida, USA, on charges of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars to help circumvent U.S. sanctions against the Iranian government and other individuals and entities. According to a report from Reuters on February 21, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office, a federal court in Manhattan has also charged Kamelia Jamshidi, one of Zarrab's associates, and Hossein Najafzadeh, a senior employee of Bank Mellat. Zarrab was arrested on Saturday in Miami and appeared in court on Monday, where the judge issued a detention order. However, Jamshidi and Najafzadeh, both Iranian citizens, remain at large. Reuters reports that Zarrab's lawyer has not yet responded, and the news agency has been unable to contact Jamshidi and Najafzadeh. Zarrab holds citizenship in both Iran and Turkey and became particularly known during a major corruption case in Turkey involving 53 individuals, including the children of former Turkish ministers and himself. Turkish media reported that Zarrab played a role in the illegal transfer of approximately 35 billion euros from Iran to Turkey during the nuclear sanctions. The Turkish prosecutor's office declared the case closed in mid-2014, and Zarrab was released after a two-month detention in that country. However, his name has remained in the news. Babak Zanjani, who is considered to have the largest financial and economic corruption case in Iran, mentioned Zarrab while defending himself against allegations of 'gold smuggling' last December. At that time, the newspaper Shargh stated that Zanjani and Zarrab could no longer be seen as separate entities, suggesting that Zarrab might be 'the key to some of the missing funds in Zanjani's case.' Previously, the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported that Zarrab referred to Zanjani as his 'boss' in his confessions. Zarrab's arrest in the U.S. comes shortly after the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers was implemented and nuclear sanctions against Tehran were lifted. Babak Zanjani has also been sentenced to death, although some Iranian officials say his execution would mean that part of the events of the past years and 'the hands behind the scenes' would remain unspoken. According to Reuters, U.S. officials say Zarrab owned a network of companies in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and Kamelia Jamshidi worked in one of these companies. The prosecution states that these three individuals—Zarrab (33 years old), Jamshidi (29 years old), and Najafzadeh (65 years old)—helped the Iranian government and individuals circumvent imposed restrictions using their financial and commercial network during the sanctions.