Iranian minister slammed for warning of 'dirty money' in politics

Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli has been forced to walk back his claims that money from illegal drug smuggling has entered politics.
An Iranian employee of the anti-drug police walk past 50 tons of drugs seized in recent months burning in eastern Tehran on June 26, 2014 to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The Iranian security forces seized some 575 tons of drugs between March 2013 and March 2014, the Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)
An Iranian employee of the anti-drug police walk past 50 tons of drugs seized in recent months burning in eastern Tehran to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, June 26, 2014. - Getty Images/Atta Kenare
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Arash Karami
@thekarami
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After his warning about the entrance of “dirty money” into politics, various offended officials have demanded that Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli clarify his statements.

Fazli, who is also the secretary-general of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters, said Feb. 21 that $3 billion has entered the Iranian economy from drug smuggling. This figure, he warned, equals two-thirds of the country’s developmental budget.

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