Iran Sentences Billionaire to Death for Corruption

An Iranian court has sentenced a billionaire businessman to death for corruption linked to oil sales during the rule of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a judiciary spokesman said on Monday.

The businessman, Babak Zanjani, and two of his associates were sentenced to death for money laundering, among other charges, the spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, said in remarks broadcast on state television. He did not identify the two associates. Previous reports in the state news media said the three had been charged with forgery and fraud.

“The court has recognized the three defendants as ‘corrupters on earth’ and sentenced them to death,” Mr. Ejehi said. “Corrupters on earth” is an Islamic term referring to crimes that are punishable by death because they have a major impact on society. The verdict can be appealed.

 Mr. Zanjani was arrested in 2013, shortly after the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who ordered a crackdown on alleged corruption during the eight-year rule of Mr. Ahmadinejad, his hard-line predecessor. Mr. Zanjani owes about $2.25 billion for oil sales he made on behalf of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government, Iran’s Oil Ministry has said.