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In many parts of the civilized world, the exposure of corruption among the highest ranks of power prompts public outcry dominates headlines, and often leads to significant upheaval within the ruling establishment. However, in Iran, such revelations have sadly become commonplace.
Four years since the initiation of the power consolidation project by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime, a faction that once branded itself as “principlists” and vocally advocated for justice and combating corruption, now finds itself entangled in a string of embezzlement and corruption scandals. Bits and pieces of this massive embezzlement of Iran’s resources are now being exposed by media outlets tied with the rival factions who have been sidelined from power.
A state-run website, Entekhab, reported on May 9, “It has been now revealed that over one hundred billion [tomans] has been moved within the Raefipour Foundation. This revelation came after Raefipour, acting as a proxy for the close relatives of Raisi’s brother-in-law, attempted attacks against [Parliament Speaker] Qalibaf! Consequently, those aligned with Qalibaf have uncovered the fraud of this rude boy with his big mouth.”
The reference is to Ali-Akbar Raefipour, a figure close to Khamenei’s faction who is slated to hold a prominent position in the regime’s new parliament.
On May 11, the Bahar News website, linked to the former regime’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reported, “Bank transactions of the Masaf Foundation [belonging to Raefipour] indicate that this institution has engaged in financial transactions totaling around 100 billion tomans from four bank accounts of Bank Melli, Sepah, and Saderat, under the guise of charitable activities, from 2022 until now.”
#Iran’s Second Sham #Elections: Officials Clash for Power Amidst Public Push for Changehttps://t.co/AijLQT8qvj
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 11, 2024
On the other hand, Jalil Mohebbi, a former official suggested that according to the law, Raefipour should be imprisoned for up to 5 years for money laundering!
The state-run newspaper Etemad wrote, “Based on Jalil Mohabbi’s argument, the charter of the Masaf Foundation, which Raefipour established, stipulates that this institution is supposed to operate solely in the field of promoting Mahdism and nothing else. Therefore, if any amount from the funds deposited in Raefipour’s and Masaf Foundation’s accounts has been spent on political matters, or election-related issues, according to Articles 674 of the Islamic Penal Code, offenders could face imprisonment ranging from three to five years!”
The newspaper continued, “What’s interesting here is that in completing this conversation with Mohebbi, suddenly documents of continuous payments from the Masaf Foundation to some social media activists were published, which received widespread attention on social media. In one example, 145 million tomans were paid to a user under the pseudonym ‘Khorshid Khanoom’ to participate in the elections and promote voter turnout! Or in another example, among the deposits of this foundation, the name of a foreign girl named Alona Vashchenko is seen, who received significant sums from this institution for five consecutive rounds to appear in front of the camera under the name ‘Tahereh Vashchenko’!”
The newspaper warned, “This latest clash once again reveals a deep division within the Principlist factions and indicates that the monolithic structure of Principlists has never been able to steer the political arena away from traditional conflicts and guide the country towards a peaceful and prosperous shore. Therefore, the challenge between Mohebbi and Raefipour is not merely a clash between two individuals or even two factions; it is a challenge that brings the ideological conflicts of this political spectrum to the surface and highlights them to the Iranian public.”
Analyzing Ghalibaf’s Standoff for #Iran’s Parliament Speakershiphttps://t.co/oZTs408rGr
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 12, 2024
In light of these revelations, Iranians both inside and outside the country have taken to social media to express their anger and resentment towards the ruling plunderers by commenting and posting, indicating the repercussions awaiting the oppressors in the days to come.
In recent weeks, amid intense infighting within the regime, numerous cases of theft and embezzlement by senior officials of the Iranian regime have surfaced in state-controlled media outlets. The embezzlement by Kazem Sedighi, the representative of the Supreme Leader and temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran; multi-billion-dollar contracts of Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani with China; the thefts by Ahmad Alamolhoda, Khamenei’s representative in Mashhad; the corruption of Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the current speaker of the regime’s parliament; the embezzlement by Ali Shamkhani, former security advisor to Khamenei, and his sons; the embezzlement case of the Debsh Tea Company; the iPhone scam case of Kourosh Company; the embezzlement scandal at Mobarakeh Steel Company; and many other cases are just a small fraction of the thefts that the Iranian people, who are becoming poorer every day, are becoming aware of.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to portray a false image of justice in the clerical regime, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary, announced that “Javad Sadatinejad, the former Minister of Agriculture Jihad, has been sentenced to three years in prison in the livestock fund case.”
