Second Defendant: The System Had Approved Babak Zanjani

The second defendant in the Babak Zanjani case stated in court that Babak Zanjani had a "friendship history" with Rostam Qasemi, the oil minister during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, and that the "Special Economic Measures Headquarters" had also "approved him." The hearing for the charges against Mehdi Shams and Hamid Fallah Heravi, the second and third defendants in the Babak Zanjani case, whose death sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court, was held on Saturday, July 8, in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Mohammad Mogheiseh. According to Tasnim News Agency, Mehdi Shams rejected the judge's statements regarding his role in introducing Babak Zanjani to the oil minister, asserting that "documents in the case" clearly show that Babak Zanjani had a "friendship history" with the oil minister. Mehdi Shams stated that Babak Zanjani negotiated with oil ministry officials in Lausanne, Switzerland, on April 15, 2012, and signed his first contract with the ministry on December 15 of the same year. He also mentioned that the Special Economic Measures Headquarters had "approved Mr. Zanjani." Mehdi Shams added: "The system approved Babak Zanjani; who am I to say anything about him? The guardians of public funds are the officials; they decided to give Babak Zanjani money and oil. I was not aware of many matters." The Special Economic Measures Headquarters was established, according to government officials, by a resolution of the Supreme National Security Council and with the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for the "sanction period" to make "special" decisions, and all its resolutions are "completely classified." Previously, the prosecutor in the Babak Zanjani case had announced that the delivery of oil to Zanjani was not based on the resolution of this headquarters but was approved only by three ministers of Ahmadinejad's government and the then-central bank governor. Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the parliamentary follow-up committee for the Babak Zanjani case, had previously accused the Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Economy, Central Bank Governor, and Oil Minister of Ahmadinejad's government of being "involved" in the Babak Zanjani case. The head of the Central Bank during Ahmadinejad's government had denied the allegations regarding his role in the Babak Zanjani case last year, stating that Zanjani had "more" connections with the oil ministry and that he himself had last appeared in court as a "witness" last year. Judiciary officials have announced that the case against members of Ahmadinejad's cabinet is open, but no report on the handling of this case has been published so far. In the court session on Saturday, the judge also told Mehdi Shams that "your agents are still out there and must be arrested. You are playing with time and not saying where the money is." Mohammad Mogheiseh added: "During the temporary detention, I also told the third defendant (Hamid Fallah Heravi) that Mr. F, you were among the forces of this system; try to return the stolen assets to the public treasury." In this session, Mehdi Shams also denied the allegations regarding the sale of $400 million worth of Iranian oil and not returning the money. The Supreme Court confirmed Babak Zanjani's death sentence, but the death sentences of Mehdi Shams and Hamid Fallah Heravi, the second and third defendants, were annulled; this ruling is being reviewed in the "parallel branch." Iranian media refer to Mehdi Shams as a former shipping manager and Hamid Fallah Heravi as a former security force member. Babak Zanjani is accused of having received "one million barrels of oil worth 300 million euros" from the Iranian oil company and having paid only "160 million euros" of the 2.7 billion euros he was obligated to pay, spending the remainder on personal matters. Babak Zanjani and his lawyer have repeatedly promised that this debt will be paid through Zanjani's foreign partners, but this debt has not yet been settled. Bijan Zangeneh, Iran's oil minister, announced on Saturday that Babak Zanjani's debt to this ministry is $4 billion and stated that he "does not intend" to pay this debt.