January 25, 2019
Fifty-five Majlis deputies, or almost 20 percent of the membership, have signed a letter calling on the Judiciary to look into violations of the quarter-century-old privatization program.
From its start under President Rafsanjani back in the 1990s, the program has come under constant criticism. Many of the sales of state-owned businesses have gone to insiders, including relatives of public officials, while the largest firms have been sold almost exclusively to government entities, such as pension funds, making a mockery of the goal of privatization.
What is surprising about the letter from the 55 deputies is not that it has been sent but that it has taken so long for any large number of deputies to express concern.
The Iranian Privatization Organization is headed by Mir Ali Ashraf Abdollah Pouri-Hossaini. He was named to the post by President Khatami, dismissed by President Ahmadi-nejad and then re-instated by President Rohani.