Jahangiri: They took $22 billion to Istanbul and Dubai
First Vice President Hassan Rouhani accused the government's critical faction in the Islamic Republic of Iran of at one point taking $22 billion of the country's resources to Istanbul and Dubai, and it was not clear what happened to this money.
On Tuesday, October 22, Eshaq Jahangiri, First Vice President of Iran, revealed in a speech at a "meeting with scholars and clerics" that during the previous government (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), $22 billion of the country's resources were taken abroad.
According to Jahangiri, the purpose of those exporting this huge amount was to counter the increase in the price of the dollar in the country and its decline, but the price of the dollar has not decreased, nor has it been determined what happened to the $22 billion.
Continuing his speech, Jahangiri referred to the widespread criticism of the 4,200-toman exchange rate for some essential items and goods, which critics of the government also refer to as the "Jahangiri exchange rate," and said: "The decision that was made in this regard was approved by all elements of the system, but some who seek to falsify the news and disappoint the people have repeatedly made headlines in the media that 18 billion dollars of the country's resources were wasted with this decision, and they have not once explained what their reasoning is."
The First Vice President of Iran added: "Those who question the 4,200-toman currency and say that the government has squandered the country's resources are the same ones who at one point took $22 billion of the country's resources to Istanbul and Dubai to, as they say, reduce the price of the currency in the country, while neither the price of the dollar decreased nor was it clear what happened to the $22 billion?"
The figure Jahangiri cited is almost equivalent to the total value of Iran's annual oil exports in 2016 and, if proven, could be recorded as the largest financial corruption case in the history of the Islamic Republic.
In his long speech, Jahangiri also spoke about the “government’s achievements” in various fields and defended them. He said: “In 2005, Iran’s gas extraction from the joint gas field was equal to that of Qatar, but in 2013, when the government of prudence and hope began its work, Qatar’s daily extraction was 550 million cubic meters and Iran’s extraction was 250 million cubic meters. This backwardness must have been the result of betrayal, because tens of billions of dollars of the Iranian people’s money have been lost.”
Source: DW
