Over the past few months, Seyed Hojatollah Ghoreishi, head of the Ministry of Defense Supply, Research, and Industrial Affairs Division, and his vice Reza Gholi-Esmaeili has transferred tens of millions of dollars a month to Quds Force. Ghoreishi and Esmaeili are using various means to help Quds Force convert its money into foreign currency. The methods include using foreign currency earned by Iran’s petrochemical companies, and selling gold and converting the money in Turkey through Halk Bank and Ziraat Bank. This is supervised by Quds Force member Behnam Shahriyari Morallo. Esmaeili was designated by the U.S. Treasury.
Despite the trade restrictions related to the U.S. sanctions regime, the Iranian economy’s income from petrochemical export has formed a central part of foreign currency revenue in the past year, even more than income from oil.
Petrochemical income is essential to the balance of payments in Iran, to protecting the exchange rate, to financing essential procurement, and to stopping the rise in the cost of living.
Although the vital interests of the Iranian economy may be in danger, the allocation of petrochemical income to Quds Force, which uses the money to finance terror in the Middle East, has been authorized by CBI and other government elements. Sata, the investment cooperative of Iran’s armed forces’ pensioners organization, is managing the channel in practice. This is all taking place against the backdrop of an unprecedented foreign currency crisis the Iranian economy is facing, at the expense of the Iranian citizens, and in complete violation of Iran’s interest to protect the petrochemical exports that are essential to its survival.
Source » doublecheque