Local media outlets reported that international sanctions against Iran have created profitable financial channels that bring significant income to individuals connected with the country's security structures.
Iranian investigative journalist Yashar Soltani claims that the Ministry of Oil has lost control over the marketing and export of the national oil industry, handing these functions to an exclusive network of four brokers who circumvent international sanctions.
Soltani, who was previously imprisoned for reporting on financial corruption, stated that the brokers have a strong financial incentive to sabotage political agreements between Tehran and Washington, as the lifting of sanctions would effectively destroy the networks through which they operate.
According to Soltani, Mohammad Javad Bavand, a former deputy for economics in the intelligence organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, oversees the sale of Iranian oil and has granted four brokers the right to sell 80 million barrels of oil over the last three months.