The Iranian regime has announced its decision to sell public properties, a move that is being referred to as the largest “state corruption” since the regime took power.

The plan is being supervised by a delegation of seven top officials close to the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who has been granted impunity over their decisions on what to sell. This plan comes after nearly two decades of a so-called “privatization plan” and is considered Tehran’s last-ditch effort to compensate for its huge budget deficit. The lion’s share of the budget goes to the regime’s security apparatus, mainly the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). With the privatization plan, the IRGC has succeeded in dominating the country’s financial streams, and with the new plan, it would literally own the country.

Many officials and state media are protesting the lack of transparency in this plan, as well as the potential problems it could create. The chief of the delegation, Mohammad Mokhber, is the former head of the Execution of Khomeini’s Order (EIKO), Khamenei’s major plundering conglomerate. Another member of the delegation, Ahmad Vahidi, the interior minister, is a top IRGC commander and is wanted for the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Argentina.

Under this plan, the delegation will auction all properties belonging to ministries, universities, state institutions, governmental companies, banks, government credit institutions, and insurance companies, as well as surplus assets of Iran’s national oil, gas, and petrochemical companies, the Central Bank, Iran’s mineral industries, and maritime affairs. This could earn the regime roughly $445 billion based on current dollar exchange rates.

The government claims that the “private sector” will benefit from this plan, but there is no “private sector” in Iran. In reality, this term is the acronym of the IRGC. The government has been criticized for not reducing unnecessary expenses and budgets, and instead choosing to auction public and future generations’ property.

Many parliament members have also protested the approval of the “production of government assets law,” which is considered by many as the code name for auctioning the country. The lack of transparency and the fact that semi-governmental institutions like the IRGC are taking control instead of governmental institutions have also been criticized.

The ongoing nationwide uprising has rattled the regime’s foundation. Khamenei has sensed his regime’s imminent downfall. So, like Shah in his last days, Khamenei intends to auction the country, keep its vast security apparatus afoot and export as much capital as he and his accomplices are able to.

The growing calls for regime change within Iran have created the ideal environment for the international community, particularly European countries, to side with the Iranian people by sanctioning the IRGC and increasing pressure on the regime.

MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub