December 12, 2014
President Rohani complained Monday that corruption is growing under his administration, despite efforts to curtail it.
Speaking at an anti-corruption conference, Rohani said Iranians “should apply all our power in fighting corruption.”
He complained that money that “was said to be given under the table in the past is being given over the table now…. The continuation, the deepening and the expansion of corruption is endangering … the Islamic revolution.”
Rohani said increasing openness in government and public awareness would help fight corruption.
In May, Iran executed a billionaire businessman, Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, convicted of being at the heart of a $2.6 billion state bank fraud, the largest in the country’s history.
In September, a spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary indicated Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, first vice president during President Ahmadi-nejad’s second term, had been convicted of corruption and given a prison term. No details have been released, with officials saying they cannot be aired until Rahimi’s appeal has been heard.
