Resignation and arrest of the head of the Privatization Organization
Abdullah Pouri Hosseini, the head of the Privatization Organization of Iran, was arrested by a judicial order just hours after being summoned to the General Inspectorate of the country and the news of his resignation was published. Hosseini was accused of shell transactions and the undervaluation of state-owned companies.
Ali Ashraf Abdullah Pouri Hosseini, the former head of the Privatization Organization of Iran, resigned on Wednesday, August 13, after being summoned to the General Inspection Organization. Hours after the resignation was accepted by the Minister of Economy and Finance, news agencies close to the Revolutionary Guard Corps reported his arrest. Fars News Agency, which covered the news of the resignation with the headline “dismissal,” quoted Jafar Sobhani, an advisor to the Privatization Organization, as saying: “Mr. Pouri Hosseini had resigned 18 days ago.”
Nasser Siraj, head of the General Inspectorate of the country, told the media that the report on the performance of the Privatization Organization will be sent to the competent authorities as soon as it is completed. Mohammad Javad Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, had said in the winter of 2018 that Pouri Hosseini had been banned from leaving.
Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the former prosecutor of Tehran, told the media in January 2018 that the judiciary would soon investigate violations and corruption in the privatization organization. In February of the same year, the head of the General Inspection Organization also announced the filing of serious cases in the field of privatization, citing the transfer of "Dasht Moghan Agriculture and Industry" to an individual who had a bank debt of 1,350 billion tomans.
Puri Hosseini was also accused of abuse of power by members of parliament. Among them, Ahmad Alireza Beigi, a representative of the people of Tabriz, said that he formally transferred the Ardabil meat complex to the private sector, while he himself was the real buyer.
Among the controversial actions of the privatization organization was the transfer of the Haft Tapeh Sugarcane Company to two companies, Zeus and Ariak, with an advance payment of 6 billion Tomans. After this transfer at a 10 percent price, the payment of workers' wages and insurance premiums was further delayed, and their strikes and protests were met with arrests and dismissals.
The transfer of the Hepco Industrial Company in Arak and the Ahvaz Steel Company to the private sector was also accompanied by protests and reactions from workers against the layoffs and dismissals, leading to the arrest of employees.
Abdullah Pourihosseini has previously said that he has implemented Article 44 of the Constitution carefully and seriously and has not committed the slightest violation in this matter.
According to this principle, Iran's economic system is divided into three sectors: state, cooperative, and private. In 2005, Ayatollah Khamenei announced the general policies of Principle 44 and a year later, he mandated the government to transfer 80 percent of the shares of state-owned sectors to the private sector.
Puri Hosseini was the head of Hassan Rouhani's campaign headquarters in East Azerbaijan in the 2013 presidential election.
Source: DW
