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An Iranian deputy minister of industries, mines and trade was arrested over vehicle import fraud, Fars news agency said on August 1.

The unnamed deputy minister arrested on Aug.1 upon a judicial order, the report added.

He was later released on bail pending an appeal.

Earlier, the spokesman of Iran’s judiciary said a total of 18 people had been arrested over vehicle import fraud and the abuse of the official rate currency.

“Around 18 people have been arrested in connection with vehicle import fraud and the abuse of the official rate currency,” Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei made the remarks in a weekly press conference on July 28.

They are accused of offering the official rate currency at the lower level of 42,000 rials per US dollar, he added at the time.

In an effort to halt the slide, Iranian authorities announced in April they were unifying the dollar’s official and black market exchange rates at a single level of 42,000, and banning any trade at other rates under the threat of arrest.

According to Iranian media reports, vehicle imports have long been seen as monopolized by well-connected, mafia-style corporations, which have benefited from the rial devaluation and enjoyed government privileges.

Mohseni-Ejei had said on July 24 that the prosecutors have been ordered to speed up the probe, show no leniency to the defendants and disregard their positions.‌

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