A REPORT BY Iran's national audit office that US$1 billion of the country's oil revenues have gone missing may create an embarrassing problem for President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad
less then six months before he will stand for re-election, particularly bearing in mind his election on a strong anti-corruption platform.
Iran's Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has called for further investigation by the audit office, which claimed that US$1.058 billion of extra oil income - meaning the oil income above Iran's budget - had not been transferred as mandated to the state treasury during the 2006- 07 Iranian fiscal year. The report was handed over to parliament and read out recently. President Ahmedinejad told the media through an aide that it was a possible "misunderstanding" and that the issue was being reviewed.
The president may have his reputation damaged by such an affair so close to the election, even if the funds are identified as existing, unless the question quickly gets answered and suspicions among the population are not allowed to fester. While his economic policies have been frivolous, with record oil revenues spent on a massive number of projects in Iran's rural areas and the politico-economical interests of his allies in the extended Revolutionary Guards' networks benefiting from acquiring strong positions throughout the state and economy, Ahmedinjad is rarely accused himself of being corrupt.
A dent in that armour could affect his fortunes and it is interesting to note that not only is speaker Ali Larijani one of his strongest conservative critics - and a heavyweight in any potential conservative presidential campaign to challenge him - but so is the national audit office's head, who was a former interior minister before falling out spectacularly with Ahmedinejad.
