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Iran Commutes Oil Tycoon's Death Sentence (www.improvethenews.org)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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  • Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has approved a request to commute oil billionaire Babak Zanjani's death sentence to 20 years of imprisonment, Iranian media reported on Tuesday. BBC News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
  • After his arrest in 2013, Zanjani was convicted and sentenced to death in 2016 over several charges, including embezzling $2.7B from the oil ministry so as to dodge US sanctions on Iran. Independent (LR: 2 CP: 3)
  • According to Iran's judiciary, Zanjani had the right to a pardon on the conditions that he returned the assets, compensated the damages, and expressed regret for his actions. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
  • Zanjani has denied any wrongdoing throughout the trial, insisting that US sanctions had prevented a planned transfer of the missing funds to Iran's oil ministry. Al Arabiya
  • Zanjani's attorney claims that his client — once considered the richest man in Iran with an alleged net worth of $13.5B — may be eligible for parole given that he has already served more than a decade. Iran International
  • While Zanjani has had his death sentence commuted, Iran has reportedly executed at least 834 people last year — the second-highest figure in two decades. More than half of those executions were over drug charges. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)

Pro-Iran narrative:

  • It's easy to understand why Babak Zanjani had his death sentence overturned and commuted to a 20-year jail term, as he cooperated with authorities to locate and return assets from abroad. Since all property was returned, there's no need to carry out such a severe punishment.
    IRAN ENERGY PRESS

Anti-Iran narrative:

  • There were no doubts that the Islamic Republic was corrupt before this happened, but this commutation further reasserts that the people of Iran are the only ones facing the ramifications of its draconian laws. While ordinary people are subject to the full rigor of the justice system, oligarchs are spared and privileged.
    IRANWIRE

Nerd narrative:

  • There's a 9% chance that Ali Khamenei will cease to be the supreme leader of Iran in 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
    METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)
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