Money Stolen by Russian Official Didn’t Belong to Iran: Spokesman

The Iranian government spokesman has rejected Russian media reports that the one-million-dollar cash allegedly stolen by a Russian Foreign Ministry official belongs to Iran.

Ali Rabiei made the comment after some Russian media outlets claimed around $1 million cash money sent in two suitcases to Russia by Iran had been stolen.

Speaking in a press briefing on Tuesday, Rabiei said the issue is about an embezzlement case related to one of the employees of the Russian foreign ministry.

“The money belonging to one of the staff members of the Russian foreign ministry is not related to Iran. This money came from the Russian government’s earnings in Iran, and everything happened inside Russia,” he said.

“As far as I know, one of the staff members of the Russian foreign ministry did this, and legal proceedings to review the case have been going on in Russian courts since last year,” the spokesman noted.

“This issue completely falls within Russian laws and has nothing to do with Iran and relations between the two countries,” he noted.

“So, issues pertaining to the case are not related to Iran. The only relation to Iran, as I said, is that the money comes from the consular revenues of the Russian embassy in Tehran. Neither does the money belong to Iran, nor is the accused person Iranian,” Rabiei said.

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