The strong language by Rouhani was greeted with surprised at Tasnim, Fars and other news outlets in Iran. It is a rare admission of cracks among the regime members.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANIran's President Hassan Rouhani listens during a news conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018(photo credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS)
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani traveled to the city of Yazd on Sunday to deliver a speech about Iran’s economy, the oil sector and to express sympathy with earthquake victims. He also revealed massive allegations of corruption.In a rare rebuke, the president attacked the oil minister and demanded to know where $700 million in funds have gone, and slammed the judiciary and the Central Bank over a separate $2 billion corruption case.Rouhani began his speech with good news, arguing that since April, the economy of Iran has stabilized, despite difficult pressures from abroad – a reference to the US campaign of “maximum pressure.”“Despite all pressures, our non-oil exports are in good condition and this means that the entire country is working hard, and today, we need to step up our efforts for more development,” he said.Then Rouhani launched into a screed about corruption. He said that several important bills had been submitted to parliament to provide more transparency in Iran’s system.“We must all fight corruption with fierce determination,” Rouhani said. But not everyone is doing the right thing, the president warned. He demanded prosecutions and hinted that different parties in the country were being treated favorably.“I urge the judiciary to explain to people what has been done in fighting billion-dollar corruption,” he said.Indeed, the Iranian leader wondered where $2.7 billion dollars had disappeared to. This included money that an Iranian businessman named Babak Zanjani had been accused of withholding from the oil ministry. He was sentenced to death in 2016. But he has still been meeting with important politicians, allegedly. Radio Farda notes Zanjani was a middleman, selling Iranian oil through front companies, mainly affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in the years when international sanctions banned Iran oil exports and banking relations, during hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term, 2009-2013.Rouhani wants the money back and he wants to know where it went. He alleges the government was supposed to have brought this money back from abroad but failed to do so.“A few years ago, the Supreme National Security Council announced that this case must be dealt with swiftly, but it has not been addressed to date, so I want the $2 billion case to be made public to make people happy and aware that there is determination to fight against corruption,” he said, according to ISNA and other Iranian media.He wants audits to look for another $947 million case as well.“I want the case of institutions that owe more than $700 million to people to be made public,” Rouhani said, calling on the oil minister and the Central Bank to do their job and clarify what has happened.THESE ARE tough times in Iran, and the president appears to be arguing that while average people suffer sanctions, that some ministers and officials are living the good life.“People need to know how and where the money has gone and who is responsible for it,” he said. “People will not be deceived by taking a few people to court to propagandize fighting corruption.”Iran’s Press TV in English didn’t report on his allegations, focusing instead on Rouhani saying that a new oil field had been found that has 53 billion barrels of reserves.The strong language by Rouhani was greeted with surprise at Tasnim, Fars and other news outlets in Iran. It is a rare admission of cracks among the regime members. Fars News called the speech a “big-bang moment.”Iran’s president gave his speech as the foreign ministry is preparing a trip to Kazakhstan.Tehran needs to show unity to the region because it knows that its economy and oil sector are suffering. The issue of corruption and the allegations that large sums of money that are missing impact the country.It also appears to point to the fact that the IRGC has continued to siphon resources from the state for its policies abroad. One thing that unites Iraqi protesters – who have slammed Iran and Iranian-backed parties in Iraq – and Rouhani’s speech, is the allegations that the octopus-like IRGC is sponging up resources in Iraq and Iran and leaving average people with nothing.More than 300 protesters have been killed and thousands injured in Iraq’s mostly Shi’ite south and in Baghdad. This is a challenge to Iran’s role in Iraq. IRGC Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani has been in Iraq to suppress the protests. It now seems that the larger picture could be also a jibe at the era of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The former president was not considered personally corrupted, as he was praised for his modest lifestyle, but there are questions about what happened during his era.Rouhani has touched a nerve through his speech, revealing Iran’s internal disputes that do not often come to light. It comes days after the US Department of Treasury sanctioned IRGC commander Mohammad Bagheri, Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi, and Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Raisi ran against Rouhani for president and lost, and Rouhani has been in power since 2013. Raisi gave a speech 12 days ago, highlighting the issue of corruption and arguing that it was not a partisan issue. It may be that Rouhani’s speech was a response to the powerful judiciary head. If so, it is interesting he chose to do so days after the US sanctioned Raisi.
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