Tehran, July 27 -- A widening scandal surrounding the secretive network used to manage Iran's oil revenues under international sanctions has intensified after senior officials acknowledged that at least $1.6 billion in state funds had allegedly been misappropriated, with several intermediaries fleeing the country.
The controversy centres on Iran's system of so-called "trusties" - private companies and intermediaries entrusted with receiving, holding and transferring oil export revenues outside the international banking system.
Speaking on state television on Sunday, Zabihollah Khodaeian, head of Iran's State Inspection Organisation, said one intermediary alone had failed to return $200 million in state funds before leaving Iran.
Khodaeia...