Main target behind news on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's arrest - COMMENT

Baku. 8 January. REPORT.AZ/ News spread on the arrest of the sixth President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the background of the five-day protests in Iran.

It was alleged that the 61-year-old former president had been arrested for supporting and instigating these protests.

Main point here was the fact that he met with residents in the city of Bushehr, saying that the authorities were unaware of the problems of ordinary people.However, the same day, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's lawyer, Adil Heyderi, denied information on the detention of a politician defending his rights: “Information about the arrest of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not true”.

The Iranian authorities did not confirm or refute the information yet.

Regardless of the attitude of Iran's relevant institutions to the issue, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was chosen target of criticism after Hassan Rouhani elected president. The first of these reasons was that he was elected as a representative of the intra-conservative line. Secondly, he was criticized as a person responsible for many unresolved issues in the country. Thirdly, it was claimed that he was against Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei within the conservative line. News spread that Ahmadinejad had mostly consulted with Mesbah Yazdi. During the visit of the former president to the United States on atomic-nuclear program and so on, Khamenei's name was not mentioned which caused disturbance among conservatives.

In general, during the presidency of Ahmadinejad, he was criticized by conservatives along with reformists.

In 2012, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi accused him of making unilateral decisions on economic issues:

"The issue of high prices, as well as other economic and domestic problems, has caused increased pressure on the public day by day. If the situation in the country continues at a current pace, citizens will suffer more severe pressure. The tolerance of the people has a certain limit. Do not think that people will always be able to endure this situation. If we can’t solve economic problems, people's support to the government is gradually diminishing and serious problems can arise. If we can’t solve economic problems, people's support to the government will gradually diminish and serious problems can arise. As I have heard, the president makes decisions on a number of economic issues all alone. It is not right”. Ahmadinejad even wanted to nominate his candidacy in the 2017 presidential elections. For the reason that Khamenei didn’t give blessings Ahmadinejad changed his mind. Nevertheless, Ahmadinejad, who was president in 2005-2013, strongly criticized the incumbent president who was seeking a second term as president and said he didn’t deserve that position.

Tough speeches against Iran's sixth president began after the arrest of an Iranian businessman, billionaire Babek Zanjan, or Hasan Ruhani's presidency in 2013. He was accused of hiding millions of dollars in oil revenues through his companies. Babak Zanjani was sentenced to death for fraud and economic crimes. Iran's first Vice-President Isaac Jahangiri said that he will be released if he returns embezzled funds. Zanjani's lawyer, Zohra Rezali, said the court's decision was "politically motivated": "We believe Babak Zanjani is simply debtor in this case”. Babak's wealth is estimated at $ 13.5 billion. One of Iran's richest men, has been accused of helping to prepare illegal oil deals for the Islamic Republic of Iran and has been in the blacklist of the US and European Union. He admitted opening companies in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Malaysia and selling millions of barrels of Iranian oil on behalf of the government. Zanjani's bank accounts and confiscated properties are under the control of the country's prosecutor's office. First deputy of the Chief Justice of Iran Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'I stated that Babak Zanjani himself said about his accounts in country and abroad: "According to our initial investigation, the funds in these accounts are enough to repay the debts of Babek Zanjani". Before Zanjani's arrest, he said he could not repay $ 1.2 billion in debt to the government due to the international sanctions. So Zanjani became billionaire during Ahmadinejad's presidency. This is also the time when tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's atomic-nuclear program were tense. In those years, such sanctions were imposed on Iran's oil exports. Some of these sanctions were lifted after the Comprehensive Agreement signed on July 15, 2015.

In the meetings held in Tehran Iranian vice-president Eshaq Jahangiri, in his speech without naming Zanjani criticized financial benefits of Iranian government in other words of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: “It’s necessary to think about how a young man made more than $2.7 billion of oil revenues. If these billions are not added to the financial system of the country, it will be black spot for Iran.”

He said he cannot justify that former government gave large amount of funds to Babak Zanjani.Vice-president criticized the financial policy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad government. He stressed that while Iran cannot hold any transaction in the international financial market due to economic sanctions, more than $20 billion was transferred in 18 months to Istanbul and Dubai to control this process.

Eshaq Jahangiri said he will take measures and punish those illegally using economic concessions for decreasing the impact of international sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani used to say on this issue: “It is important to have transparent and trustful activity for achieving the development of the country. Urgent measures should be taken against those, who have become rich by abusing the special concessions and generating illegal earning.

The news about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s arrest or pressure on him, in this term, cannot be a coincidence. Arrest of Turkish citizen of Iranian origin Rza Zarrab in USA brought Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again to country’s agenda. According to some probabilities Babak Zanjani is believed to be a patron of Rza Zarrab.

Yesterday there were reports that on behalf of students there was a demand for Hassan Rouhani’s resignation. Students accused president for not keeping his promises given before elections.

Therefore, the chain of accusations is still continuing. Hassan Rouhany’s government want to negotiate with the West. For this reason, it can be suggested they expect him to give contribution on the issue related with Zarrab. One of the rounds of this chain or fictional figures is Zanjani, another is Zarrab.

These makeshift figures became rich during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Zanjani and Zarrab are in prison. They are more likely have already been interrogated. Ahmadinejad is one of the figures on this issue. For this reason, amid protests Ahmadinejad was called the organizer of chaos in the country. By his arrest they both find the organizer of protests, and one of the major players who violated the sanctions against Iran was punished. Afterwards, they are likely to find multiple proves and threat the neighboring states, known and unknown forces within the power. As a result, protests is an excellent circumstance for hitting Ahmadinejad.