Turkan: We Must Be Careful That Nothing Happens to Babak Zanjani

As the trial of Babak Zanjani, accused of a $2.5 billion corruption case during the previous administration, approaches, Akbar Turkan, advisor and assistant to Hassan Rouhani, warned in an interview with Shargh newspaper about the fate of this accused individual in prison, stating: "We must be careful that nothing happens to him." The newspaper Etemad published two photos of Mohammad Javad Zarif and Saeed Jalili attending sessions of the Parliament's JCPOA Commission on Sunday, reporting that Jalili, a critic of the JCPOA, stated in the morning session that "sanctions will remain," while Foreign Minister Zarif told the commission members in the afternoon session that "sanctions will go." The same newspaper also reported on its front page that Zarif rejected Jalili's claim regarding the stabilization of the right to enrichment and the formula for lifting sanctions in the Almaty negotiations, stating: "Jalili's claim has no documentation." The government-aligned newspaper Iran described Sunday as a "happy day for the JCPOA with Zarif's presence," noting that Zarif, head of the negotiating team in the eleventh government, attended the afternoon session of the commission for the first time and answered some ambiguities and questions raised by opponents and critics. After this session, the spokesperson for the JCPOA Commission announced that "the Foreign Minister's explanations were very good and complete." However, the newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz dedicated its front page photo and headline to "explicit criticisms by Manouchehr Mottaki against the government's opposition to reviewing the JCPOA in Parliament," reporting that the Foreign Minister of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government severely criticized the behavior of government officials in confronting the review of the JCPOA in Parliament, likening their behavior to the bombardment of the Iranian Parliament during Mohammad Ali Shah's time and the bombardment of the Duma in Russia during Yeltsin's era. Mottaki stated that the Rouhani government has acted in a way regarding the review of the JCPOA in Parliament as if it wants to be in the position of the third bombardment of the Parliament. The newspaper Kayhan, also sharply criticizing the government, wrote in its front page: "Censorship of the bitter truths of the JCPOA is not hope, it is deception." In its editorial, Kayhan accused Hassan Rouhani of opposing the Constitution and, quoting the President's remarks criticizing the Guardian Council's performance, described it as an example of such opposition, stating: "Examples of the government's opposition to the Constitution, the religious-national covenant of the country, are increasing, from not sending the JCPOA bill to Parliament according to the Constitution and after the Supreme Leader's emphasis to the attack on the legal performance of the Guardian Council." Kayhan also attributed Rouhani's election as President to "supervisory oversight" and warned the eleventh government leader, stating: "The continuous violation of the Constitution in the words and actions of respected statesmen, from not sending the JCPOA bill to Parliament to the attack on the supervisory oversight of the Guardian Council, has done nothing but distrust the people in the government, and in a final analysis, the smoke of it will also go into the eyes of the statesmen." The newspaper Farhikhtegan evaluated the official news of the discovery and extraction of new uranium resources in Iran and its repercussions, quoting Hadi Hadi-Zadeh-Yazdi, a nuclear physics professor at Mashhad University, stating: "The uranium enrichment cycle is not considered a scientific or technological level anywhere in the world" and "the three countries Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada, which hold the first to third ranks in uranium reserves, do not engage in enrichment." The newspaper Ebtekar reported on a field report of a protest gathering by some candidates for the national entrance exam and master's degree in front of the Organization for Educational Testing in Tehran, stating that despite the disqualification of candidates with ranks of 100 in the current year's exam during the "interview" stage, officials in this organization told the protesters, "Go until next year." "Women's Party or Party Women" is the title of a report from a roundtable in Shargh newspaper about "the reasons for women's marginalization in party work and effective methods to encourage women's society and the country's parties to pay attention to it," which was attended by Azar Mansouri, a member of the Central Council of the Unity Party, Masoumeh Rezaei, Deputy Political of the Zainab Society, and Soheila Jaloudarzadeh, a member of the Central Council of the Workers' House and a member of the Women of the Islamic Republic Society. The newspaper Iran published a short interview with Soheila Jorjesh, one of the victims of the serial acid attacks against women in Isfahan, reporting that "Soheila Jorjesh, before undergoing surgery on her eye in Spain, asked the people of Iran to pray for her." The newspaper wrote: Soheila Jorjesh "is among the women who were attacked with acid a few months ago in Isfahan, but unfortunately, the perpetrators of this bitter incident have not yet been identified and arrested." The newspaper Ebtekar dedicated its front page photo to the welcome of people in Europe to refugees, stating: "Some of us, who envision all Western societies as immersed in materialism, see beautiful scenes of moments of pure humanity by the people of European countries not only as less than the actions and laws of the European Union but also view these humanitarian actions with skepticism. We accept that the refugee issue is a humanitarian disaster, and if a solution is not found soon, the number of casualties will increase, and many innocent people will die, but the argument that Western governments are the main culprits of such a disaster should not prevent us from seeing such beautiful scenes; this argument should not consider such humanitarian actions as a pursuit for materialism and money." The newspaper wrote: "The welcome of the people of Europe to refugees is commendable; may such actions be repeated in other countries of the world." "Card Water in Qom" is a report on the drinking water situation in Qom, a city that, according to Etemad newspaper, "has water sales booths." Turkan's warning about the fate of Babak Zanjani; "We must be careful that nothing happens to him" As the trial of Babak Zanjani, accused of a $2.5 billion corruption case during the previous administration, approaches, Akbar Turkan, advisor and assistant to Hassan Rouhani, warned in an interview with Shargh newspaper about the fate of this accused individual in prison, stating: "We must be careful that nothing happens to him." According to Shargh newspaper, the President's advisor's warning came after Rasoul Kouhpayeh, Babak Zanjani's lawyer, stated in an interview with Tasnim news agency that "months ago, on the Tehran-Qeshm flight, I saw Mr. Turkan in the plane. I approached him and presented a letter to him stating that there is a way to expedite the repayment of my client's debts. In this brief meeting, I requested a personal meeting with Mr. Turkan to clarify the details of this matter, which unfortunately has not been possible until now." However, Akbar Turkan, in his interview with Shargh newspaper, denied the statements of Babak Zanjani's lawyer, stating: "I have neither seen him nor do I know him, and I have had no connection and have not arranged any meeting," and "I have not given any promises to anyone or any intermediary" because "the person responsible for following up on corruption cases is Mr. Jahangiri" and "that I or a government official promise to resolve or follow up on the case is a complete lie." Akbar Turkan also warned about the possibility of an "incident" occurring for Babak Zanjani in prison, stating: "In my opinion, Babak Zanjani is connected to a corruption mafia. We must be careful that nothing happens to him or that we do not receive news of his disappearance. Because Zanjani is not an ordinary person who would be given two billion dollars of oil money." Hassan Rouhani's advisor emphasized that Babak Zanjani "definitely has financial support and is of the same kind as the elite," reiterating the need to "be careful that nothing happens to Zanjani" in prison, telling Shargh newspaper: "We must ensure that nothing happens to him and that we recover state assets." Marjan Touhidi and Saeed Saif, the authors of the report for Shargh newspaper, noted the promise of judicial officials to hold the first session of Babak Zanjani's trial on October 2 and that "only 20 days remain until the promised day," writing: "In 20 days, Babak Zanjani must appear in court to be tried for not repaying $2.5 billion in debt to the Ministry of Oil; a debt that, of course, is referenced by the Ministry of Oil but is actually the money from oil sales that has not been returned to the country." According to this newspaper, now with the countdown to Babak Zanjani's court appearance, his lawyer, Rasoul Kouhpayeh, has reported his encounter with Akbar Turkan on the plane months ago, while Akbar Turkan, advisor to Hassan Rouhani, "denies any meeting with Babak Zanjani's lawyer and also warns that we must be careful that nothing happens to Babak." Shargh newspaper recalled that Akbar Turkan had previously spoken in an interview with Jomaran website about a "chain" of which "Babak Zanjani is one point," and even warned about the possibility of Zanjani being eliminated by this chain. According to this newspaper, Akbar Turkan had stated in that interview: "Babak Zanjani is not just a person; he is a movement. As Mr. Zanganeh said, is it possible to hand over billions of dollars of crude oil to an ordinary person? This is a chain that starts from within our country and extends outside. This chain has not been discovered; that is, a person named Babak Zanjani is not everything; perhaps our intelligence-security agencies are making their utmost efforts to ensure that this chain that Babak Zanjani is connected to does not harm him in prison because we have one point of this chain, and if they harm this one point, the entire chain will be lost, and we will not have access to anything, and our money will be lost. The links of this chain are interconnected; is it possible for $2.6 billion to be given to an ordinary person?"