16 August 2023; MEMO: Iran’s Special Prosecutor’s Office for Clergy Affairs has opened a number of cases against former President, Hassan Rouhani, on charges of “interfering in the foreign exchange and stock markets”, a judiciary spokesman said yesterday.
Addressing a weekly news conference in the capital Tehran, Masoud Setayeshi said: “Rouhani is a cleric, and cases against him have been filed in the special prosecutor’s office in line with the relevant jurisdiction.”
He did not provide details of the cases.
Rouhani, a reformist political figure, served as the president of Iran for two four-year terms between 2013 and 2021. He was succeeded by Ebrahim Raisi, a former judiciary chief, in August 2021.
During its second term (2017-2021), Rouhani’s government was widely criticised for its interventions in the foreign exchange market as the value of Iran’s rial tumbled against the US dollar.
During this period, Iran’s currency saw more than a ten fold devaluation, fueling record inflation.
The former reformist president is also facing cases pertaining to projects in the oil and gas industry.
