Iranian MP Abed Fatahi has spoken out against the widespread nature of corruption in the country, saying it is has become a matter of course in every branch of life.
Fatahi told ISKA news on Sunday December 14: “It has now gone beyond under-the-table handouts, it is completely overt.”
The head of the Sunni Faction of Parliament said the people joined the Revolution in 1979 “to stop corruption and now corruption is all over the country.”
In recent years and especially in the latter years of the former administration, a number of financial fraud cases were discovered involving exorbitant amounts of money from three trillion to 12 trillion toumans, which Fatahi described as “an insult to the Islamic Republic regime.”
Fatahi said some officials, rather than putting efforts into preventing fraud, try to deny the corruption or downplay the amount.
He said corruption and bribes have become a part of everyday life and it no longer surprises anyone.
At the recent National Conference to Promote Administrative Health and Fight against Corruption, Iran’s Supreme Leader slammed the lack of progress in fighting corruption.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani blamed the concentration of power, arms, money and media power in one institution as a fertile ground for corruption. The comment is believed to have been a reference to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, which is involved at a high level in all of these areas.
Rohani was slammed by the conservative newspaper Keyhan for his comment; it suggested that the IRGC uses its might against the country’s enemies and is beyond blame.
