Iranian state television reported that “thieves cut into the vault of a branch of Bank Melli (Persian for National Bank) from a neighboring building in Tehran.” As a result, hundreds of Iranians lost their savings.
As the burglars entered the bank, they had 14 hours to easily dismantle CCTVs and take their memory cards. They made a lot of noise using hand-milling machines to cut the safe boxes and steal people’s belongings. Bank alarms sounded, and while the security forces received several calls, not even one police officer showed up at the scene.
The branch did not have a security guard, and the bank found out about the theft after four days. Hassan Mounesan, Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Melli, said on June 10 that it took the thieves about 14 hours to take away the money.
Mounesan acknowledged that this branch boasts “seven levels of security and an automated alarm system.” However, he dodged the question on why burglars easily entered the bank.
For long, Iran’s ruling theocracy justified its cruelty by bragging about “bringing security to the country.” Killing innocent protesters on the streets, arresting critics of the regime officials, and organized attacks against women are all deemed “security measures” by the regime.
While it takes several minutes for state security forces to arrive at the scene of a protest and open fire on unarmed civilians, how did they fail to arrest a gang of bandits over the course of 14 hours?
There are many speculations about the complicity of the regime officials in this heist. Given the regime’s institutionalized corruption and history of plundering people’s wealth, the possibility is highly probable.
In 2018, thousands of Iranians lost the savings they had entrusted to government-backed credit institutions such as Caspian Bank and Thamen-Ol-Ameh.
These institutions claimed that they would return people’s money with a 25% interest rate, and tricked people into trusting them.
These institutions gradually stopped allowing cash withdrawals, then stopped paying interest, and finally shut their doors for good, ruining the lives of thousands of people across the country.
These institutions were linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
People held weeklong protests demanding their rights. The demonstrations and the slogans of those who fell victim to this systemic scam were later attributed to Iran’s first major uprising in 2018, which rattled the regime’s foundations.
Following the Monday heist, defrauded people gathered at Bank Melli’s main branch and called for their rights.
At first, regime officials tried to disperse the crowd, saying that since the safe boxes were not insured, they were not responsible for retributing people’s losses.
These responses allowed people to express their hatred toward Iran’s ruling theocracy. Fearing people’s backlash and another series of protests in Iran’s current volatile society, the regime promised that it would prosecute the thieves.
On June 9, finally, the state police announced it had arrested all robbers and confiscated the fortunes.
Iran’s state media and the police made a great deal of fanfare about arresting the thieves, bragging about a joint operation with the Interpol to arrest several thieves who managed to escape Iran.
People reacted to this bonanza on social media, questioning the failure of the regime’s General Command of the Law Enforcement (FRAJA) to catch the robbers in the act, while it claims to be so powerful. This forced Hossein Ashtari, Tehran’s Police Chief, to ridiculously claim they had already arrested the thieves a couple of days before making it public.
Ashtari’s remarks about recovering people’s belongings hinted at the regime’s role in Monday’s burglary. He noted that they managed to recover the majority of people’s belongings and money.
He said on June 9 in an interview with state TV that “it was now up to them to determine how much they had lost and tell us.”
According to the regime’s criminal code, holding more than 10,000-euro worth of securities equals currency smuggling, thus punishable under the regime’s laws.
In other words, people who had their life savings in the bank can now only get back 10,000 euros of their belongings, while the regime can keep the rest.
Besides, the regime claimed it had arrested all criminals. So why have they restored only 90% of people’s belongings? Where is the rest?
Hoping the regime’s FRAJA would retain people’s funds is like expecting an arsonist to put out the arson!
FRAJA, formerly known as NAJA, is a corrupted institution.
In 2015, amid the regime’s infightings, reports emerged that NAJA and its then-commander Ahmadi Moghaddam, have embezzled billions of dollars. According to the Iranian Resistance’s exclusive report in 2020, NAJA “today is one of the largest holding companies in Iran.”
According to this report, “In 2014, state-run media estimated the assets of this foundation to be over USD3.2 billion. The enterprises of this foundation include Ghavamin Bank, Mehregan Investment Holding, NAJA Hope Insurance Fund, and NAJA Science, Education, and Recreation Institute, among other holdings.
Tehran’s crisis-riddled regime needs more money to fund its terrorism and warmongering policies. Therefore, whether covertly or overtly, it plunders people’s wealth.
From devouring oil rigs, monopolizing entire industries, selling soil and trees, or the latest bank robbery that raises so many red flags are all part of the regime’s plan to use every penny it finds to elongate its lifeline.
However, despite all the wealth the mullahs have looted and plundered from the Iranian people, can they afford to buy more time?
With a regime that breathes public security every day, this blatant theft in broad daylight is just another example.
In fact, the security claims that the regime makes are evident in the recent clashes between citizens affected by the robbery of Bank Melli Tehran branch and Khamenei's mercenaries and the security forces. Angry demonstrators screamed in the face of the latter, “You dishonorable.”
The reason behind the slogan is that their belonging and money were stolen by the regime in broad daylight, and from the deposit box of the regime’s Bank Melli. When the affected citizens protested, the government institutions responded that the money and funds were unsecured, and that they were not responsible for the theft.
Government officials do not provide explanation of how when a young protester demonstrates against the regime in the streets, security forces arrive immediately, and how a porter working on the border to provide for his is shot dead. However, when a government bank is robbed, the security forces are nowhere to be seen. What is the reason behind these double standards and contradiction?
In Iran that ruled by the mullahs, prices rise every day, from housing to electricity, to services, and now basic goods and bread, being the last remnants on every day’s table.
Exorbitant taxes and astronomical utility bills are other tools to drain people's pockets.
Along the inflated prices, the regime’s robbery methods have been increasingly exposed to the extent that state media have been running headlines like, “Government fumble in people’s pockets” (ISNA - January 2022-).
These thefts also stem from the nature of this regime, which comprises different mafia gangs specialized in looting and theft to keep it alive.
Therefore, the security that Khamenei talks about as necessary is to protect the mafia apparatus itself in the face of the great hatred that the Iranian people have for it and its sinister regime.
This is the people whose accumulated anger has grown into a daily nightmare for Khamenei and his regime. The manifestations of the revolution are slowly erupting every day these days, leading towards mobilization for an uprising and the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime and the resistance units of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The consequences will be more evident in the near future.
*Member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
