Sanctions Provided a Ground for Financial Misuse

The head of the initial committee for investigating administrative violations at the Presidential Office stated that circumventing sanctions during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency created a "ground for financial misuse." Mohammad Ashrafi Isfahani said in an interview with the state news agency IRNA on Tuesday, August 5, that "since transactions were not in a natural context and the correct path was lost, the government was forced to go astray." According to Ashrafi Isfahani, "opportunistic individuals who had interests in the past continued to seek the existence of sanctions and pocket billions of dollars." Numerous reports have previously been published about financial abuses during the circumvention of Western sanctions against Iran during Ahmadinejad's government. Among these, Iranian media reported in recent months about the "disappearance" of an $87 million oil rig that was supposed to be purchased for Iran by a Turkish company from a Romanian company due to sanctions, with the payment made but ultimately not delivered to Iran. Babak Zanjani, an Iranian businessman currently in prison, is one of those who claimed to have played a significant role in circumventing Iran's sanctions. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Khabaz, a member of the parliamentary deputy of the Iranian presidency, reported on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, the "disappearance" of funds for the purchase of 1.6 million tons of wheat during sanctions and Ahmadinejad's presidency. Yahya Al-Es'hagh, head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, previously stated that sanctions "brought $25 billion into the pockets of abusers at specific times." Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned on Tuesday, April 28, that "sanction brokers" in Iran should "start thinking about another job from now on." He had previously stated that "a group, under the guise of circumventing sanctions, bypassed national interests and took the people's money." Ashrafi Isfahani also mentioned that "most of the cases of major violations and financial abuses" were related to the ninth and tenth administrations, and that such abuses did not occur in any of the governments after the revolution. He emphasized that his previous statements about the "investment" of Hamid Baqaei, Ahmadinejad's executive assistant during his presidency, "in ten countries" were based on "the words of one of the country's security officials." The Law newspaper reported on Saturday, July 20, citing Ashrafi Isfahani, that Baqaei had "taken assets out of the country" and invested in "ten foreign countries." Baqaei was arrested on Tuesday, June 8, and Ali Asghar Hosseini, one of Baqaei's defense lawyers, stated that his client's charge was "embezzlement." Officials in Hassan Rouhani's government, including First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, have raised numerous accusations regarding financial violations of Ahmadinejad's government. Meanwhile, Adel Heydari, Ahmadinejad's lawyer, announced the filing of a complaint against Eshaq Jahangiri, and Jahangiri's office stated that it "welcomes" this complaint. In response to this event, Mohammad Reza Khabaz, a member of the parliamentary deputy of the Iranian presidency, also stated on Tuesday that "Jahangiri has only mentioned a drop in the ocean of Ahmadinejad's violations, and if there were no fear of creating public distrust towards governments, a 70-volume book of Ahmadinejad's violations could have been published." According to the Khabar Online news agency, he emphasized: "Just counting his legal violations would make a book, and if people knew what he had done, a week of public mourning should be declared for each of his violations." The Shargh newspaper had previously reported the existence of "23 complaints against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the judiciary." In this context, sources close to Ahmadinejad denied the arrest of Rahim Mashaei.