Kaveh Barzegar

Last week, Iran's Finance Minister, Davoud Danesh-Jafari, officially ended his tenure at the ‎ministry. In his last hours as finance minister, however, Danesh-Jafari slammed the ninth ‎administration's policies in a surprisingly critical speech. ‎

The former finance minister began his speech by listing the characteristics of Ahmadinejad's ‎advisors as "looking down on all experienced individuals, not following the fourth development ‎plan, over-emphasis on peripheral issues, presence of pressure groups in all executive offices of ‎the Ahmadinejad government, and the administration's countless problems with many of the ‎country's institutions." He listed the problems as follows: "problems with the Majlis; problems ‎with the Expediency Council; problems with certain personalities; problems with Islamic ‎Republic of Iran Broadcasting; problems with newspapers; problems with opponents from the ‎previous presidential election; problems with potential opponents in the upcoming presidential ‎elections, and dozens of other problems that cannot be revealed!" ‎

The former finance minister then spoke about problems that Ahmadinejad’s advisors create by ‎raising issues such as “accusing banking practices of being against Islamic law, high interest ‎rates, turning for-profit banks to non-profit banks, the political connections of some managers to ‎influential individuals, loan defaults, provision of privileges to certain people, not providing ‎enough funding to administration’s favored projects, and the story of ‘Bimeh Iran’ [Iran’s largest ‎insurance company].” Danesh-Jafari added, “These charges were usually voiced by people who ‎did not have a single day’s background of working in the banking or insurance industries and ‎were simply overseeing these organizations’ performance with their ignorant views.” ‎

Abolishment of the Management and Planning Organization

In an unprecedented attack against Ahmadinejad, the former finance minister also criticized the ‎President’s decision to abolish the Management and Planning Organization: “I noticed when ‎looking at the plan to abolish the Management and Planning Organization that this action was ‎not thought-through and did not have any effect other than to hurt and distress the employees of ‎this giant organization.” ‎

Danesh-Jafari then criticized the President’s sensitivities to the reports that were submitted by ‎the head of the State Audit Organization, Mr. Rahimi which he described in these terms: ‎‎“Another characteristic of this era was the belief that everyone had the right to interfere in the ‎country’s macroeconomic management… One time Dr. Rahimi said in a foreign-domestic ‎interview that an oil contract signed during the previous administration was problematic because ‎it imposed 20 billion in damages to the country’s economy and therefore had to be nullified. The ‎Minister of oil and I spoke with him separately about this and told him that this kind of talk ‎undermined the country’s international standing and would result in distrust for future ‎agreements. If there were problems, we said, they had to be addressed and resolved, rather than ‎dramatizing the issues through public interviews, and that there was no reason to go public with ‎this issue before any investigations were conducted or any decisions had been made. His ‎response to this was: ‘I don’t get orders from you.’” ‎

Parallel Movement in Administration

In another part of his expose, the former Finance Minister revealed tactics used by those close to ‎Ahmadinejad to get rid of their opponents: "Some individuals had infiltrated the Presidential ‎Inspectorate Bureau and were either disgruntled individuals or not worthy of their positions. For ‎example, the deputy in charge of economic affairs at the Inspectorate is a person whose ‎understanding of economics is minimal."‎

Ahmadinejad, Source of Controversy

In another part of his interview, Danesh-Jafari spoke about Ahmadinejad’s role in exacerbating ‎the country’s economic problems, adding, “Pressure on Bimeh Iran took place following a ‎simple report [from Rahimi, head of State Audit Organization] on the financial embezzlement of ‎Bimeh Iran’s former president, preceding my time, and soon became a national controversy! Or ‎in [the President’s] recent speech in Qom, which was widely covered… The roots of such ‎ignorant reports which have been passed on without supervision are easily discernible.” ‎

Danesh-Jafari recalled a discussion he had with Ahmadinejad about the President's fiery speech ‎in Qom in which he had made several accusations against various government agencies: "In the ‎cabinet meeting, I spoke with Dr. [Ahmadinejad] and told him that this kind of talk would hurt ‎the nation." ‎

Slamming Ahmadinejad's remarks in Qom about the cigarette mafia, Danesh-Jafari said, "The ‎referenced remarks are all wrong. For example, everyone knows that right now it is free to ‎import cigarettes into the country and that no one is given any special privileges in this regard. ‎Twenty-one large and small companies control the market for official cigarette imports into ‎Iran. They imported cigarettes worth about 300 million Euros into Iran last year. How could ‎someone be willing to pay 5 billion [Dollars] in bribes to get a permit to import cigarettes when ‎there is no legal barrier to obtain such a permit? This claim that the President makes does not ‎make sense." ‎

Government, Not Banks, Responsible for High Housing Prices

Danesh-Jafari then dismissed Ahmadinejad’s claims regarding the role of private banks and ‎credit institutions in driving up housing prices, and instead blamed Ahmadinejad’s policies ‎which stifle manufacturing and lead to inflation and high prices. “Can one except the Central ‎Bank to inject about to 60 billion Dollars into the economy - based on the 2007-2008 budget law ‎‎- without any inflationary consequences on the economy? Inflation is a result of this policy and ‎we cannot escape reality.” ‎

Danesh-Jafari belittled Ahmadinejad's claims that a mafia was acting against the ninth ‎administration. "Some claim that our economic problems, especially concerning inflation and ‎housing, are because of a conspiracy to undermine the ninth administration. I have admitted that ‎I have no experience in battling the mafia, and so intelligence and security officers have to get ‎involved in the matter. Still, I believe that even if there were a mafia at work, inflation had to be ‎brought under control to combat rising prices. " ‎

Ahmadinejad Personally Slashed Interest Rates

Danesh-Jafari also criticized Ahmadinejad for ordering banks to lower their interest rates despite ‎opposition of economists and financial experts. “Last year around this time, the High Council for ‎Monetary and Credit Policy held a meeting. The majority of the council members, including ‎myself and Dr. Sheibani, opposed slashing bank interest rates. The general belief was that bank ‎interest rates should be increased in 2006 in proportion to inflation. But because the council was ‎aware of the administration’s political limitations, it recommended to the President not to reduce ‎the interest rate at least for 2007. As we all know, President Ahmadinejad did not accept this ‎proposal.” ‎
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