Tehran Prosecutor: Indictments Issued for Six Defendants in the 'Oil Rigs' Case

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated on Tuesday that indictments have been issued for six defendants in the 'oil rigs' case. According to IRNA, Jafari Dolatabadi, speaking at the 'Fifth Meeting of the Deputy Prosecutors of Tehran on Judicial Investigations,' remarked, 'The oil rigs case has been one of the most newsworthy judicial cases in the past two years and is considered one of the heavy cases of the Economic Crimes Prosecutor's Office.' The Tehran prosecutor added, 'The case is very complex in terms of proceedings, and the Tehran Prosecutor's Office has issued indictments for six defendants and has requested their trial and punishment from the court.' The issue of the 'disappearance' of oil rigs during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency has been widely covered in the media since 2013. Iranian parliament members stated in 2015 that the Marine Facilities Company purchased two rigs during Ahmadinejad's administration, but these rigs never entered Iran. One of these oil rigs, related to the 'Fortuna' rig, became public in late October 2014 when 14 members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly wrote a letter to the Speaker of Parliament requesting follow-up on the matter. According to these representatives, the Fortuna oil drilling rig was sold during Ahmadinejad's administration through a Turkish company to the Marine Facilities Company of Iran, which is under the Iranian Ministry of Oil, but this rig was never delivered to the Iranian side. Fars News Agency reported that this oil rig was sold to Iran for $87 million through the Emirati company DEAN, but instead of going to Iran, it went directly to the Gulf of Mexico. A parliament member also reported in September 2015 about 'widespread violations' in the transaction of '25 oil rigs' and stated that he had submitted the 'files and passports' of 12 of the 'violators' to the judiciary. In this context, 'widespread violations in the transaction of 25 oil rigs have occurred.' Arrest of one person related to the missing rig case. A parliament member stated that another oil rig was purchased but did not enter Iran. Another parliament member mentioned the lack of information regarding the fate of an oil rig. Zangeneh confirmed the 'disappearance' of an oil rig during Ahmadinejad's administration.