“If there is a little less corruption, our problems will be solved,” demonstrators have chanted at protests against the financial failures. Economists say that as many as 40 percent of the loans carried on the books of Iranian banks may be delinquent. Among them was Hossein Hedayati, a business tycoon and former member of the Revolutionary Guards, whose swift rise was so conspicuous that websites speculated about the sources of his sudden wealth. It also created a variety of semiofficial holding companies controlled by the supreme leader, senior clerics or top military commanders. Among them, the Revolutionary Guards controlled at least two, while the army, the police, the municipality of Tehran and a giant religious foundation close to the Guards controlled the others.

Source: New York Times January 20, 2018 21:11 UTC