Tehran Prosecutor: It Must Be Determined Who Supported Babak Zanjani

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, likened Babak Zanjani's case to an iceberg of corruption, with only a small part visible, and called for action against his 'supporters.' This Iranian judicial official stated on Wednesday, September 21, referring to a recent letter from Zanjani from prison in which he accuses the judiciary of 'plundering his assets,' that 'it is strange for someone who is accused of plundering billions of tomans of public wealth to make such claims.' In that letter addressed to the Tehran prosecutor, Zanjani mentioned that the judiciary had seized his assets and stated that 'you made it possible for judicial traders to plunder my assets... and the investigators benefited.' However, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi dismissed Zanjani's claims as 'baseless' and stated, 'This is the method of convicted individuals who, when they cannot achieve anything through legal means, resort to insults and unfounded allegations.' He then expressed hope that 'with the continuation of investigations, it will be possible to address the roots of corruption in this case to determine who Babak Zanjani is and who supported him and gave him wings.' Babak Zanjani, who called himself an economic Basij member, took on the task of exporting part of Iran's oil during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency to circumvent sanctions, but with the coming of Hassan Rouhani's government, the Ministry of Oil announced that he had not returned over two billion euros of oil revenues to the government's treasury. Following these accusations, Zanjani was arrested in January 2014 and has been in prison since then. He has been sentenced to death, and the Supreme Court is currently reviewing his appeal. Last week, this economic defendant was transferred from prison to the hospital and underwent surgery due to gastrointestinal problems. He was then returned to prison. In this context, following a request for reconsideration, Zanjani's case was sent to the Supreme Court. The Tehran prosecutor stated that 2,000 billion tomans were transferred in Zanjani's case. Zangeneh: 'With the execution of Babak Zanjani, the black box of the case will be destroyed.' Babak Zanjani claims that Fazel Larijani has taken revenge on him, and Zanjani's lawyer stated, 'In response to the Ministry of Oil's complaint, I will sue this ministry.'