Ahmadinejad on the defensive: $1 billion in Iran's oil money goes missing
NICOSIA — The government of Iran has concealed $1 billion in surplus oil
revenue according to a finding that challenges the administration of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Iranian National Audit Office said more than $1 billion in surplus
oil income failed to be deposited in the state treasury.
The assertion,
which could open the Iranian government to legal proceedings, concerned the
oil revenue in the 2006-07 budget year, Middle East Newsline reported.
"In the energy section of this report it has been mentioned that $1
billion of extra oil income has not been returned to the country's public
treasury," Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said.
"The National
Audit Office should seriously follow up the cases where there have been
deviations from the implementation of the law or non-implementation of the
law."
Larijani has called for an investigation into the findings of the audit.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, running for reelection in June 2009,
has denied that his government misappropriated funds.