Tehran Prosecutor Confirms Arrest of Secretary of Automotive Importers Association

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, confirmed on Saturday the arrest of Meysam Rezaei, the secretary of the Automotive Importers Association. According to the Tehran prosecutor, Ministry of Intelligence forces arrested the secretary while he was attempting to leave Iran through the western borders and handed him over to judicial authorities. Mr. Dolatabadi stated that the secretary has many private complainants. News of Meysam Rezaei's arrest was published in some media and newspapers in the last week of August, where he was referred to as the 'right-hand man of the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade,' and these reports claimed that he was granted permission to import cars without following legal procedures, with the support of Mohammad Shariatmadari. It was emphasized in those reports that Meysam Rezaei, the head of the Automotive Importers Association, was involved in illegal car imports. Following the news and reports concerning this automotive market activist, the Automotive Importers Association issued a statement explaining that the arrested individual has no connection to this association, which is under the supervision of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture. According to that statement, Meysam Rezaei is the head of the Automotive Importers Association, which is considered an organization under the supervision of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare. The company 'Miftah Rahnavard,' which Meysam Rezaei manages, imports various foreign cars from Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Benz, Renault, and Lexus into Iran. More than a month ago, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesperson for the judiciary, reported the arrest of five officials from the Ministry of Industry, including a director general and his deputy, in connection with the 'illegal' registration of car orders. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, in another part of his conversation, explained that 'only in one case in Salafchegan, three thousand five hundred imported cars related to one company have been seized.' According to the Tehran prosecutor, 'this company belongs to several brothers, and the total number of seized cars from this company reaches 5,000, which is being pursued as part of one case.' Dolatabadi also reported other arrests and the formation of significant cases in the areas of petrochemical materials, currency, foreign goods imports, and coins. According to the Tehran prosecutor, since July 9, with the establishment of three special branches for investigating economic corruption, 33 indictments have been issued. Sadegh Larijani, about a month ago, wrote a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, requesting his approval to form a special court with three revolutionary court judges to address the case of 'economic corruptors,' which was approved by the leader of the Islamic Republic. This request and the leader's approval faced criticism among lawmakers and legal experts.