U.S. State Department: Iranian Government is Full of 'Hypocritical Corrupt Officials'

On December 9, International Anti-Corruption Day, the Persian Twitter account of the U.S. State Department mentioned senior officials of the Islamic Republic, stating that this government is 'full of hypocritical corrupt individuals.' The Twitter account 'America in Persian' shared an image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, discussing the 'billions of dollars' at his disposal that are tax-exempt, claiming he even 'devours the properties of religious minorities' and hands them over to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Institutions and economic enterprises under Ayatollah Khamenei's supervision possess immense wealth, most of which are exempt from taxes. Reuters reported several years ago in an investigative report about one of these institutions, named the 'Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command,' estimating its assets to be 'over $95 billion,' which is about forty percent more than Iran's oil exports at that time and more than all the wealth accumulated by the former Shah. Reuters stated: 'Control of this vast economic empire is solely in the hands of one person, namely Ayatollah Khamenei.' The 'America in Persian' account also referenced Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a Shia cleric residing in Qom, mentioning his well-known title 'Sugar Sultan' and stating that 'by flooding the market with expensive imported sugar, he rendered Iranians unemployed and made millions in profit.' In recent decades, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has been informally referred to as the 'Sugar Sultan' in Iran. However, his office announced in August 2017 that the story of 'the merchant son-in-law of the Ayatollah named Modallal' was not true. Nevertheless, the removal of sugar import tariffs in 2006, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first term, when domestic sugar production had reached a stage of 'self-sufficiency' and there was no need for imports, raised discussions about 'rent-seeking' and the billion-dollar profits of the main importer of this commodity. After Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi gained notoriety for his involvement in sugar imports, some conservative media, including the website 'Baztab,' in 2011 introduced another individual as the 'Sugar Sultan.' However, a year later, it was reported that this individual's name was Mohammad Reza Yousefi and he had passed away. About two years ago, in a program on 'Special News Dialogue' on Channel Two, none of the economic guests were willing to reveal the name of the 'Sugar Sultan' despite the host's insistence. The 'America in Persian' Twitter account also referred to Sadegh Mahsouli, Minister of Interior and Minister of Welfare in Ahmadinejad's government, calling him a 'billionaire general' who had 'a special skill in obtaining lucrative construction and oil contracts from companies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' and 'now possesses billions of wealth.' Reza Gharishi, a political economy professor at Stockton University in the U.S., stated that the publication of tweets by the U.S. State Department has not been common at least since the post-Cold War era. Mr. Gharishi, in an interview with Radio Farda, pointed out that international organizations, including Transparency International, had previously mentioned Iran's ranking in corruption among various countries but did not name specific individuals in those reports. This political economy professor also emphasized that 'the Iranian economy was not clean before the revolution either,' stating: 'Ending hostilities between Iran and the U.S. has a thousand benefits: the thousandth being that such tweets from the U.S. State Department would cease.' According to the U.S. State Department's Twitter, 'Anti-Corruption Day' is a day full of despair for Iranians whose 'government is full of hypocritical corrupt individuals.' The United Nations has designated December 9 as 'International Anti-Corruption Day' since 2003 and has warned about the threats that corruption poses to stability and security in some countries.