Stories from the Sanction Era

The real stories that occurred during the sanctions were not disclosed by officials at the time because they did not want to inform the public about the problems and troubles associated with it, effectively keeping the costs of the nuclear program hidden. For about two decades, critical discussions regarding the nuclear program in Iran were prohibited, and those who spoke out faced consequences. The narrative was solely focused on national pride regarding this program. However, after the nuclear agreement and the lifting of sanctions, some voices have emerged, allowing for the recounting of certain stories from that period. Some narratives were also fabricated and presented during the sanctions. The president of the National Association for Consumer Rights Protection stated in 2015, 'Three years after the import of cars with medicine currency, no report has been published regarding how this issue was handled and the dimensions of the violations that occurred.' The Minister of Health in the tenth government protested against the import of cars with medicine currency in 2012, which ultimately led to his dismissal. It remains unclear who imported cars with medicine currency and how. Thus, it was evident from the beginning that there was no sanction against the export of medicine to Iran. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the Minister of Health under Ahmadinejad, stated, 'We were defamed in state media, and it was portrayed that we took the currency but spent it on other things like cosmetics. However, the currency for the Ministry of Health is allocated from the Central Bank for medicine. If anyone received currency for cosmetics, it was from the Central Bank and the state apparatus itself. Our constant argument was why currency was given to us but not to other areas. The clear defamation started from a completely state-controlled channel. It was during those days that I realized that no delay was permissible. I summoned the head of the Food and Drug Organization and demanded an explanation for why currency was prioritized for shovels, horse saddles, and dog food but not for medicine. Later, the head of the Central Bank confirmed that currency was allocated to cosmetics. Why was health, which is more important than anything, not prioritized? Ultimately, these were the last cries from us in the Ministry of Health. I criticized why currency was given to Porsche cars and cosmetics but not to us. I obtained the list of currency allocations from the Central Bank and saw that one or two companies, which were actually cosmetic companies, had received tens of billions in currency. In those conditions, several Porsche cars had been imported. Of course, there was a lot of talk behind this issue, but since I was only the Minister of Health and not involved in various political and economic circles, I was not aware of such dealings. I remember that I personally went to the Central Bank 19 times in a few months. My deputy for food and drug went three times a week. His director-general went three times a day.' During the circumvention of sanctions related to oil sales, the government gave billions of barrels of oil, which were wandering in tankers on the seas and oceans, to people like Babak Zanjani to sell and deliver the income. However, they did not do this. The amount of these sales is unknown, nor is the extent of what has been taken from the nation's pocket. Officials in Rouhani's government have cited the amount related to oil sales by Zanjani as approximately $2.7 billion. The exact figures of these amounts will never be revealed for several reasons: first, selling oil during sanctions is against international law, and disclosing the identities of sellers and buyers creates trouble for both sides; second, the sellers were insiders and shared the profits with officials, and the government will not disclose such transactions; and third, part of the oil was sold by security and military forces, and the resources spent by them are not supposed to return to the public treasury. The former deputy of the Central Bank regarding the sanctions era stated, 'At that time, when we wanted to bring money into the country, the Central Bank did this with suitcases. When we wanted to transport gold for the country, we had to use different methods because we were no longer allowed to use airplanes for transporting gold or even to insure those shipments because we might need the gold for minting coins. If, for example, we wanted to bring this shipment into the country by airplane, no one would insure it because the airplane might go to another country or theft might occur on that airplane, and then no one would be responsible because no one had insured that shipment. At that time, no one was allowed to insure our gold and cash shipments. Therefore, in those conditions, we had to send a trusted person simultaneously with our cash purchases from Dubai to place the cash suitcases on the seats of a first-class airplane and then sit in the back seat, buying tickets for all the other seats to bring this cash into the country. Note that these were very large and difficult tasks. Similarly, collecting cash from Iraq and transporting it by car or pack animals or through various countries was very challenging. These types of tasks also carried significant risks, but our colleagues in the Central Bank carried them out.' This was only part of the claimed dignity and honor that the nuclear program brought to the country. The household savings power has decreased by another 30% since 2009 due to the government's inability to genuinely strengthen wages and the recession trap, which means the formation of a new poverty line in society. The nuclear sanctions have played a significant role in this recession. Based on a new study conducted by the Research Center of the Parliament, the purchasing power of households in Iran has continuously decreased from 2000 to 2011. Some officials in the Ministry of Labor state that new studies show this downward trend has continued in the years after 2011. During the sanctions, like the rest of the past 38 years, the managers of the Islamic Republic never relinquished their substantial benefits and privileges despite claiming readiness for austerity. Hojjatollah Ayubi regarding the withdrawals of managers from the Cinema Organization (which started working in February 2012 at the beginning of the sanctions related to the nuclear program) in response to the revelations about salary slips against Rouhani's government states, 'Rest assured, no manager in the Cinema Organization receives (1 billion 469 million 986 thousand 947 tomans) in two years and ten months (divide by a thousand to convert to dollars). There are no reports of tens of millions in bonuses. Here, no $100,000 is lost under the pretext of buying cinematic equipment from Europe. Without passing through any council or filter, no money is given to friendly and hardworking individuals or entities in hundreds of millions and billions. (Despite all the pressures, it has not been published yet but...). No news site is established at the expense of the government for personalization on the day of establishment.' The large salaries and benefits of government officials during the sanctions not only did not decrease but increased. These five stories clearly show that, firstly, during the sanctions, the officials of the Islamic Republic and their allies lied to the Iranian people about the dimensions of the sanctions or at least did not disclose the realities. Secondly, the officials did not suffer any losses from these sanctions; and thirdly, corruption increased during the sanctions, and those close to the government found other ways to plunder.