Iran banks big on murky oil ‘trustees’ as war with US on the horizon

Billions in oil funds have not been returned to Iran as transparency fades amid efforts to circumvent biting sanctions.

Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities are creating more unofficial channels to sell oil and import essential goods under the weight of United States sanctions and a looming war, but judges and experts have raised alarms over risks of corruption.

An expanding network of state-linked “trustees” has been handling shadowy deals to export Iranian petroleum and other sanctioned products with billions of dollars in proceeds yet to return to the country, according to oil executives, lawmakers and judicial officials.

Speaking to judges and provincial officials at a meeting this month, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said he has been going after the unnamed trustees through financial authorities and they must return the money.

“Who gave them this oil and other facilities? You at the Central Bank and the economy ministry and other places, was it not you who said you audited these trustees?” he asked.

For years, Iranian governments have struggled with returning foreign currency revenues yielded from selling the country’s vast oil resources, something that has worsened an ailing economy marked by rampant inflation and a depreciating national currency.