IRAN IS ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

The purportedly God-fearing Islamic Republic of Iran has been exposed as one of the most corrupt countries on earth. Under a theocratic dictatorship, ruled by the mullahs since the overthrow of the tyrannical Shah in the 1979 revolution, the regime has been ranked the 151^stout of 180 countries in terms of corruption in Transparency International’s 2024 report. The report states countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Iraq, and Pakistan were deemed less corrupt than Iran.

Transparency International ranks countries and regions worldwide based on their “perceived level” of public sector corruption. Scores range from zero (highly corrupt) to one hundred (very clean). According to the report, Denmark (90), Finland (88), and Singapore (84) are at the top of the list and are recognized as the least corrupt countries. Iran scored only 23 points, one lower than in 2023. Corruption undermines democracy and causes instability, leading to systemic violation of human rights, all factors that are present and evident in Iran and indeed across much of the Middle East. Transparency International claim in their report that corruption in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries is due to the autocratic control of their leaders, who amass enormous wealth, oppose gender equality and suppress all attempts at opposition.

Hussein Selahvarzi, the former head of the Iranian regime’s Chamber of Commerce, revealed high level corruption was due to flawed government economic and foreign exchange policies. In an interview with the state-run international Shi’ia news agency Shafaqna on February 3, he said: “In recent years, due to the establishment of unrealistic exchange rates, many have sought to gain the largest share of foreign currency resources. This unhealthy competition, especially under political pressure on the Central Bank, has led to increased corruption in foreign exchange and inefficiency in the economy.” Selahvarzi added: “One of the serious consequences of these flawed policies is the outflow of foreign currency from the country without it returning to the economic cycle. Last year, when the country faced a trade deficit of 16 to 17 billion dollars, approximately 9 billion dollars from export revenues did not return to the country, which is a clear example of foreign exchange corruption. This not only depleted the country’s foreign currency resources but also fuelled currency market turmoil.”

With renewed havoc created by President Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions campaign on Iran, the Iranian currency, the rial, has collapsed, losing almost half its value since President Masoud Pezeshkian took office last August, and inflation has spiralled to 40%. Foreign exchange corruption and the regime’s flawed policies have had devastating effects on people’s livelihoods. The depletion of the country’s foreign currency reserves has led to an increase in exchange rates, directly exacerbating inflation and causing price hikes, plunging low-income groups into a cost-of-living crisis. Much of the blame can be levelled at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who control around 70% of all business and industry in Iran, pay no tax and are answerable only to the Supreme Leader, the elderly and fanatical Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Venal corruption among the higher-ranking officers in the IRGC is rampant, with many owning luxury villas in Turkey, Dubai and other countries in Asia, while sending their children to universities in the UK and EU. The IRGC has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization in America and Canada and there are increasing demands for the UK and EU to follow suit.

There is growing resentment among Iran’s 95 million population at the way the mullahs have wasted billions on warmongering in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, while they starve. An estimated $50 billion was squandered on propping up the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad in Syria, before his sudden fall at the end of 2024. Billions more have been sent to terrorist groups such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Shi’ia militias in Iraq, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Inside Iran, the theocratic regime spends tens of billions on developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile systems, while ignoring the poverty of its own people. There are mounting waves of protests by teachers, pensioners, workers, and other segments of society whose longstanding demands remain unanswered.

Iran’s economy has long suffered from incompetent state management, nepotism and rampant corruption. In May 2022, the collapse of a 10-story building in Abadan, causing the death of 43 people, reflected the scope of corruption. Engineers had repeatedly warned that the Metropol, a residential and commercial building, was not structurally sound, but government inspectors failed to enforce building codes, probably because the owner of the building had strong political connections. Protesters demanded government accountability for the deaths. More than a dozen people, including the mayor of Abadan and two previous mayors, who all had connections to the Metropol, were arrested.

It was against this background that the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 triggered a nationwide insurrection that almost brought down the tyrannical theocratic regime. While the uprising focused on women’s rights, it was also fuelled by resentment at venal corruption and economic mismanagement. The mullahs retaliated by murdering more than 650 innocent protesters and jailing a further 30,000, many of whom were tortured and some executed. Having expended all of its resources on mass repression, sham elections, corruption and mismanagement, all that mullahs have left now is brute force, which they deploy with enthusiasm. Under the so-called ‘moderate’ presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian, the regime has indulged in a frenzy of executions in an attempt to thwart further uprisings. Over 1,000 were executed last year alone. The time for diplomatic negotiations with this pariah regime is over. The West must rediscover its backbone, end appeasement and show their outright support for the Iranian people and their demand for regime change.