Iran’s Court of Audit announced that Mahmoud Bahmani, the head of the Central Bank, has been given notice of dismissal in connection with issues concerning foreign currencies.
A spokesman for the Court of Audit, Rahmatollah Sharifi, announced that Bahmani had 20 days to appeal the decision. Sharifi stressed that the court does not want publicity in the matter and said that “certain violations” led to the dismissal notice.
While Sharifi told the Mehr News Agency that the head of the Central Bank has already been served the dismissal notice, the bank’s public relations office denied receiving such a notice.
Yesterday, Parliament approved a motion to investigate the actions of the Central Bank, and some media outlets reported that Mahmoud Bahmani had put in a request for retirement, which has been denied by the president.
Some MPs and banks have been protesting against the Central Bank’s practice of “withdrawing funds without notice from bank accounts in lieu of the changing rate of foreign currencies” and alleged large loans have been taken from the Central Bank.
The various allegations led to Parliament’s motion to probe the actions of the Central Bank.
In the past year, Iran’s national currency, the rial, has been in a free fall against foreign currencies, losing up to three times its current value.
