Iranian parliament to deal seriously with ‘dirty money’ entering politics and economy

Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.26

By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The Iranian parliament will deal seriously with 'dirty money' entering politics and economy arenas, vice speaker of the parliament Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabifard said.

He made the remarks during an open session of the parliament held to hear the interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli's comments on his recent statements that some money made by drug trafficking enters the political scene, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on April 26.

MPs have called the interior minister for clarifying his comments, denoting that dirty money has been used in elections, and most likely in parliamentary elections.

Rahmani Fazli had said in a conference on illegal drugs in Tehran on Feb. 21 that some money made by drug trafficking "enters the political scene and is spent in the form of help in elections and decision-makings."

Fazli had also said "A great part of moral corruption in the country has to do with the introduction of dirty money into politics."

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said in March that Fazli should hand over his information to investigators and avoid expressing "unjustified misgivings."

Meanwhile, Akbar Torkan, senior consultant to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said that the government will reveal the names of many who try to enter the country's political scene through illegitimate money.

"We will not let some people gain victory with dirty money and we will disclose things whenever necessary," he asserted, referring to the next parliamentary elections of Iran that are going to be held in early 2016.