Discussing the deeply entrenched economic corruption within the Iranian regime, Heshmatollah Falahatpishe, a former member of the National Security Commission of the parliament, highlighted the alarming frequency of major corruption cases emerging on a monthly basis.
As a current professor at Allameh Tabatabai University, Falahatpishe underscored the staggering extent of economic corruption in Iran, estimating it to be over $57 billion. To put this figure into perspective, he noted that it matches the entire loan amount that South Korea received from the International Monetary Fund, propelling it into the ranks of the world’s top 10 economies.
Falahatpishe attributed the rise of large-scale economic corruption to the erosion of meritocracy in the three branches of government. He pointed to the recently exposed Debsh Tea corruption scandal as evidence of officials operating beyond the purview of oversight and inspection, contributing to a platform conducive to corruption.
Criticizing the authorities for turning a blind eye to systemic issues, Falahatpishe emphasized that denying the imperfections in the current situation would only exacerbate problems, leading the country into a self-destructive cycle that hampers development.
Examining the parliament’s passive response to the Debsh Tea corruption, Falahatpishe warned of the formation of a political oligarchy within the regime. He expressed concern that this oligarchy, bypassing parliamentary and supervisory institutions, fosters a connection between power and wealth, further exacerbating corruption.
The $57 billion figure mentioned by Falahatpishe is likely an underestimation, considering reports from some Iranian media outlets that detailed 12 major economic corruption cases from 2010 to 2022, totaling $94 billion.
Notable cases include bank corruption attributed to Mahafarid Khosravi and the group known as Aria in 2011 with the amount of 3 trillion tomans equivalent to $1.7 billion; the case of soybean meal import corruption with the amount of $700 million; the set of financial violations and economic corruption of Babak Zanjani with a total of 8 trillion tomans equivalent to $2.3 billion; Vahid Mazloumin in the corruption case known as the Sultan of Coins with an amount of 14 trillion tomans equivalent to nearly $1 billion; the collection of revealed corruption cases related to Tat Bank with an astronomical number of $5.3 billion; the collection of corruption and violations of the defendants related to embezzlement case involving the purchase of US dollars at the government rate of 4,200 tomans to the dollar totalling to $4 billion; the series of corruption cases of the managers of petrochemical companies, whose total violations reached $11 billion in 2019; the case of Azam Automobile Parts Group with $764 million; and finally the recently revealed case of Debsh Tea with an amount of $3.37 billion.
This staggering total amounts to an unimaginable sum of 5 trillion tomans, equivalent to $94.37 billion, when considering the exchange rate of 53,000 tomans to the dollar.
However, it is crucial to acknowledge that this figure represents only a fraction of the corruption cases exposed within the economic structure of the regime over the past 12 years as many remain concealed in the intricate layers of the regime’s security and military institutions and within its executive structure.
Furthermore, some cases stay hidden due to their occurrence in institutions associated with the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and the companies under his direct supervision. Consequently, no individual or institution possesses the capability to investigate these cases. Therefore, it is imperative to recognize that corruption instances such as the Debsh Tea scandal are not necessarily the most significant cases within this regime.
In line with repeated assertions, economic and political experts within the regime assert that corruption in Iran is not incidental but rather a planned component of its political order. According to ‘Abolfazl Delavari,’ a faculty member at Allameh University, corruption’s roots extend beyond legal loopholes designed for evading regulations by corrupt individuals.
Despite presenting himself as a fervent opponent of corruption among the country’s officials, Khamenei, driven by concerns over public reactions and potential protests, has found himself compelled on multiple occasions in recent years to urge and pressure regime officials not to hastily conclude such cases, aiming to prevent their further exposure.
