Widespread Violations in the Deal of 25 Oil Rigs Reported

Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament, reported on Tuesday, September 9, about "widespread violations" in the deal of "25 oil rigs" and stated that he has submitted the "files and passports" of 12 of the "violators" to the judiciary. Meanwhile, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, Nader Qazipour, a representative from Urmia in Parliament, also mentioned that "widespread violations" have occurred in the oil rig deals, and these violations are not limited to the rig known as "Fortuna." According to Qazipour, the Energy Commission of Parliament has not "approved" a request for investigation into the oil rig deals, and the Parliament's presiding board has "illegally" refrained from "presenting" this investigation. Soltani emphasized that he has the files and passports of 12 violators involved in multiple illegal actions related to oil rig transactions, which he has introduced to the judiciary. He also demanded explanations from the Ministry of Oil regarding two oil rigs that he claims have been "seized" in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In recent months, Iranian parliament representatives, including Hossein Dehdashti, a member of the Energy Commission, have announced that the Marine Facilities Company, during the previous government, purchased two rigs, but these rigs have not entered Iran. According to these representatives, one of these rigs, named "Fortuna," was purchased through a Turkish company named "Din" from another company, and the other rig was "brought to Dubai" but has not entered Iran. Bijan Zanganeh, the Minister of Oil, and judiciary officials have confirmed the "disappearance" of one oil rig. However, according to ILNA, Soltani stated that the oil rig case has been reduced to the rig "Fortuna," while the deal for 25 oil rigs has faced widespread violations. This member of the Energy Commission added: "In the rig cases... contracts have been drawn up, and even amounts have been paid, but since the remaining purchase costs have not been paid, we not only did not receive a rig, but we also have to pay billions in damages." He emphasized that in one of these contracts, a Chinese company is demanding "800 million dollars in damages" from Iran. According to Soltani, some of these contracts have involved "forgery" and "the money that was withdrawn as the cost of purchasing the rig has been lost," with Iranian officials seeking to recover funds that have left the country through legal claims. This parliament representative reiterated that he has the files and passports of 12 violators involved in multiple illegal actions related to oil rig transactions, which he has introduced to the judiciary. A day before Soltani's statements, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, confirmed the arrest of one person in connection with the missing oil rig case and stated that investigations into two or three others are ongoing. The IRNA news agency, citing a source within the Marine Facilities Company, named the arrested individual with the initials "M. Sh," who, according to the news agency, was the intermediary for purchasing this rig during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. Ejei had also mentioned on Tuesday, July 22, without naming anyone, that one person had been arrested in this regard. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, published photos on September 4 of what it called "A. Sh," a senior advisor to the CEO of the Marine Facilities Company of Iran, and "Omar Kamel Al Suwadah," the CEO of the Turkish company "Din," on the rig "Fortuna" in Turkey. This news agency announced that "A. Sh" issued the order to pay the amount for the "missing rig" to the Turkish company "Din." According to the House of Representatives news agency, Nader Qazipour, the representative from Urmia, provided these photos along with "documents" regarding the case of the "missing rig" to this news agency.