Page 11 - IRANRptFeb19

After the latest judgement, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said 29 Iranians and an Afghan foreign exchange dealer were found guilty of crimes including bribery, embezzlement and “disrupting the economy”. Many of those sentenced were also given heavy fines, sentenced to lashes and had their “ill-gotten” assets confiscated by the government.
The special court was in the news last month when the “Sultan of Sovereigns” was executed after being prosecuted for amassing huge amounts of gold sovereign Imami coins. Vahid Mazloumin and another man were found guilty of "spreading corruption on earth", a capital offence.
2.8 Polls & Sociology
Iran’s standing on Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom little changed
Iran’s standing on the 2019 edition of The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom has improved by 0.2 of a point compared to the 2018 ranking, leaving the country with 51.1 points and ranked as the 155th most free of the 180 assessed nations.
The Islamic Republic also placed 155th on the index two years ago, when i t moved out of the “Repressed” category for economic liberty and into the “Mostly Unfree” section.
Rather than economic reform in the past year, Iran’s focus has essentially been on battening down the hatches to cope with the sanctions assault launched by the US.
Heritage, the US-based conservative think tank that released its index on January 30, said progress in judicial effectiveness, government integrity, investment freedom, property rights and monetary freedom had been recorded for Iran. However, the country lost marks on business freedom, labour reform, government spending, the tax burden and fiscal health. There was no change in financial freedom.
Heritage observed: “U.S. decertification of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] nuclear deal in 2017 and reimposition of U.S. economic sanctions in 2018 caused inflation to soar and led to rapid currency depreciation. The sanctions will also hamper much-needed investment flows into the country.”
It further noted: “Powerful interest groups, mostly linked to the security and religious establishments, are opposed to the pursuit of economic liberalisation and reengagement with the global economy.”
The think tank added that there was concern over Iran’s excessive reliance on the oil sector, and observed that “sustainable economic growth will remain a long-term rather than short-term objective [for Iran].”
The overall tax burden in Iran equals 8.0% of total domestic income, the report said, while government spending of tax and oil revenue amounted to 18.5% of GDP over the past three years. Those percentages marked increases from last year’s figures of 6.4% and 15.5%, respectively.
Despite the downturn in Iran, Heritage noted that the government was moving
11 IRAN Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com