Iran sentences 3 business men to death for corruption.

 

 A court in Iran has sentenced three men to death after they were found guilty of corruption, in what is seen as an attempt to soothe growing public anger over financial crimes and an economy devastated by US sanctions.Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, Iran’s judiciary spokesman, said that 33 others had received jail terms of up to 20 years for economic crimes, according to the semi-official news agency IRNA. The men sentenced to death could appeal to the supreme court, he said.Iran has come under mounting economic pressure since Donald Trump in May withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers and reimposed sanctions on the republic.The country’s currency, the rial, has plummeted pushing up the price of goods. Panicked Iranians have rushed to buy gold coins, cars and real estate to try to protect their savings.It is not unprecedented for Iran to issue death sentences against businessmen found guilty of corruption. In 2016, Babak Zanjani, an Iranian oil billionaire with connections to Iran’s powerful elite, was sentenced to death for economic crimes. He is still in jail as the government feared his execution could protect the identities of those who helped him accumulate wealth by circumventing sanctions.The regime has been dogged by allegations that politically-connected importers of luxury goods were given access to dollars at subsidised rates. A dozen people were later jailed in connection with graft, including managers at the industry ministry. Ahmad Araghchi, a former deputy of Iran’s central bank for foreign exchange affairs, was arrested in August and Valiollah Seif, a former central bank governor, was questioned as the judiciary sought to step up its corruption fighting credentials. Mr Araghchi is out on bail now, according to IRNA. Analysts say a serious crackdown on corruption is needed to win back public trust, while the widespread use of social media for disseminating information about injustice has fanned the public’s sense of disillusion with its rulers.

Financial Times.