Iranian authorities are creating more unofficial channels to sell oil and import essential goods under the weight of United States sanctions, according to oil executives, lawmakers, and judicial officials.
In a meeting this month, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said he has been going after unnamed trustees through financial authorities and they must return the money. The trustees have been handling shadowy deals to export Iranian petroleum and other sanctioned products.
A senior former oil executive, Ali Akbar Pour Ebrahim, described a major shift in how Iran's oil money was handled as hopes faded for resurrecting the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and lifting sanctions. Pour Ebrahim said the ministry has lost its agency in handling the funds.
Oil Proceeds and Corruption
Pour Ebrahim explained that during the administration of former President Hassan Rouhani, the ministry directly handled oil proceeds, but it was sidelined during the administration of his successor President Ebrahim Raisi. He said as much as $11bn was not returned after being handled by the trustees.
Hossein Samsami, a member of the parliament's economic commission, confirmed that some of the agent banks have been colluding with the trustees to declare receipt of oil money to the Central Bank even when no funds were deposited. Mahmood Khaghani, a career oil official, said if an independent audit is allowed, it would emerge that the misappropriated money amounts to much more than $11bn.
Trustee-Based System
The trustee-based system was originally created about two decades ago when a 'shadow government' emerged as international pressure grew over Iran's nuclear programme, leading to the country eventually being hit with United Nations sanctions. Experts were sidelined at the Petroleum Ministry and other bodies in favour of actors affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other unelected state bodies.
A Tehran-based oil expert said the nontransparent trustee model only begets corruption as powerful interest groups are given large sums with little to no accountability. Economist Morteza Afghah said the misappropriated funds could have played a crucial role in bringing some stability to the country's currency markets and reducing pressure on Iranians losing their purchasing power by the day.
New Scheme
Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh announced this month that importers of essential goods, including food, will now be officially given oil to sell and will be allowed to barter the oil for food. The new trustees will be able to barter up to $1.5bn.
According to state-affiliated media, the Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution could be among the new recipients of Iranian oil. In late January, President Masoud Pezeshkian convened the governors of Iran's border provinces and announced on state television he is delegating some authority to them to import goods in case of war.
Source: Al Jazeera
