Iran denies report deputy minister arrested for graft

By  Trend

Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade rejected a recent report that one of its deputy ministers had been detained over corruption allegations surrounding car import fraud.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry’s public relations office said, “A report published recently by one of the media outlets about the arrest of an Iranian deputy minister of industries, mines and trade is rejected."

It added, “None of [the ministry’s] deputy heads are or have been under arrest," IRIB news agency reported.

This comes after Fars news agency earlier in the day said that an unnamed Iranian deputy minister had been detained upon a judicial order and later released on bail.

Spokesman of Iran’s judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, had said earlier that some 18 individuals were arrested over import fraud and that the prosecutors had been ordered to speed up the probe, show no leniency to the defendants and disregard their positions.

According to Iranian media reports, vehicle imports have long been seen as monopolized by well-connected, mafia-style corporations, which have benefited from the rial's devaluation and enjoyed government privileges.