The US State Department criticized the Iranian Regime for rampant corruption on Sunday, which was Anti-Corruption Day, saying that the Iranian regime was “full of corrupt hypocrites”.
The State Department tweeted: “Today is Anti-Corruption Day. Sadly, for the Iranian people, their government is full of corrupt hypocrites. Take Ayatollah Khamenei, who has a tax-free hedge fund worth billions. This so-called holy man devours property from religious minorities, then funnels the cash to [the] IRGC.”
Today is #AntiCorruptionDay. Sadly, for the Iranian people, their government is full of corrupt hypocrites. Take Ayatollah Khamenei, who has a tax-free hedge fund worth billions. This so-called holy man devours property from religious minorities, then funnels the cash to IRGC. pic.twitter.com/rnAwNaLhfW
— Department of State (@StateDept) December 9, 2018
In fact, according to previous reports, Iran spends billions of dollars a year to support the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and various proxy militias across the Middle East, including roughly $150 million a year on militias that support it in Iraq and around $700 million on Hezbollah.
While the people of Iran are forced into poverty due to non-payment of wages and lack of government assistance; in fact, recent weeks have seen more mass protests and strikes across Iran, with people taking to the streets to protest dire economic policies and livelihood conditions.
The US State Department went on to give examples of corrupt Iranian regime officials who stole public money to become billionaires. This included Grand Ayatollah Makaram Shirazi, nicknamed “The Sultan of Sugar”, who “made millions flooding the market with expensive imported sugar, putting Iranian people out of work”, and Sadegh Mahsouli, a former IRGC officer and a minister during the former presidential term of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who has “knack for winning lucrative construction and oil contracts from IRGC businesses”.
Unfortunately, this #AntiCorruptionDay is a reminder for Iranians that their government is full of corrupt hypocrites. Meet Grand Ayatollah Makaram Shirazi—The Sultan of Sugar. He made millions flooding the market with expensive imported sugar, putting Iranian people out of work. pic.twitter.com/30wGEcNLbv
— Department of State (@StateDept) December 9, 2018
Mahsouli, whose name is synonymous with corruption and theft, was a poor officer at the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988 and had become one of the wealthiest men in the country by 2005, thanks to winning several oil trade contracts from IRGC-linked companies thanks to the efforts of his close friend Ahmedinejad.
In 2010, the US imposed sanctions on Mahsouli for his role in suppressing the 2009 students’ protests over the rigged election that saw Ahmedinejad hold onto the presidency.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said back in July that Mahsouli was among the officials that he considered akin to the mafia.
He said: “The level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government The 40 years of fruit from the revolution has been bitter. Forty years of kleptocracy. Forty years of the people’s wealth squandered on supporting terrorism.”
Source » ncr-iran