Billionaire’s arrest focuses on Iran’s political divisions

BEIRUT: While international sanctions have made life a struggle for many Iranians, they were a big break for businessman Babak Zanjani, who made a fortune helping the government evade the restrictions on oil sales. He also made enemies.
A $40,000 watch on his wrist and a Tehran football club for a plaything, Zanjani shuttled to meetings on private jets, arranging billions of dollars of oil deals through a network of companies that stretched from Turkey to Malaysia, Tajikistan and the UAE, he said last autumn.
“This is my work — sanctions-busting operations,” he told Iranian current affairs magazine Aseman.
Under the conservative presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the 39-year-old Zanjani was good enough at his work to amass a fortune of $10 billion until he was arrested late last month. He is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison, accused of owing the government, under moderate new President Hassan Rowhani since August, more than $2.7 billion for oil sold on behalf of the Oil Ministry.
Rowhani’s government has not said what specific charges are being investigated. But two days before Zanjani’s arrest, Rowhani had written to his first deputy demanding action against sanctions profiteers.