Militancy and criminality are Iran regime’s principal threats
Militancy and criminality are Iran regime’s principal threats
It is bitterly ironic that a leadership rooting its legitimacy in quasi-religious principles governs one of the most corrupt nations in the world, deliberately infecting the entire Middle East with its criminality.
The Islamic Republic’s brazen corruption is no secret, with the offspring of untouchable ayatollahs flaunting their million-dollar lifestyles. Shameless online videos from “The Rich Kids of Tehran” include debauched bikini-clad, alcohol-fueled pool parties, pet cheetahs and million-dollar racing cars. Little wonder there is anger among the Iranians who are toiling under sanctions imposed in response to their leaders’ bankrolling of overseas terrorism.
Corruption begins at the top. When an MP in 2016 sought to expose the massive theft of public funds (via 63 personal bank accounts) by judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, it was the MP who faced harassment by the police. Larijani’s brother, Ali Larijani, head of the Majlis, acknowledged this institutionalized criminality, commenting: “I have no hope that fighting against corruption works.”
Action against corruption has mostly been about score-settling. President Hassan Rouhani’s brother Hossein Fereidoun is currently being pursued by hard-liners concealing their own skeletons inside gold-plated closets. “The power struggle is so tense that even fighting with corruption is designed to eliminate each other;” observed one analyst. Tycoon Babak Zanjani was sentenced to death for pocketing $2.8 billion from oil deals. However, he was merely a broker for powerful politicians who jettisoned him once he had served his purpose.
New bouts of sanctions simply prompt renewed bouts of illegal revenue-generating activities by super-rich ayatollahs, while citizens’ savings are wiped out by inflation and children die in hospitals through lack of affordable medicines. This includes making fortunes on currency manipulation, which further undermines an imploding economy. “They don’t feel the impact because their children live abroad and their salaries are astronomical,” commented one citizen.
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Read More: Arab News
Iran Briefing | News Press Focus on Human Rights Violation by IRGC, Iran Human Rights