TEHRAN – Iran’s judiciary said Sunday that 67 people have been arrested inrecent weeks as part of a corruption crackdown approved by supreme leaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei.

More than 100 government employees have also been barred from leaving thecountry, spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie said, according to thejudiciary-linked Mizan news agency.

“Our enemy America has decided to put pressure on people and it intends toput our economy under pressure, but to no avail,” Ejeie said.

“There are individuals who try to use this opportunity and hoard basicgoods and increase pressure on people by hoarding and smuggling,” he added.

On Saturday, Khamenei approved a request from the head of the judiciary,Sadegh Larijani, to set up special revolutionary courts to try people foreconomic crimes.

“The goal is that the punishment of convicts of economic corruption becarried out urgently and justly,” Khamenei wrote in a response published onhis website.

Increased pressure from the United States, including its withdrawal fromthe 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, have exacerbatedlong-standing public anger over mismanagement and corruption in the economy.

A disastrous attempt to fix the falling value of the rial in April added tothe anger after the government revealed that politically-connectedimporters were hoarding the cheap dollars or selling them on the blackmarket.

Earlier this month, the head of the central bank was sacked and his deputyin charge of foreign exchange arrested.

Corruption is deeply entrenched in Iran, where an opaque businessenvironment provides huge opportunities for embezzlement and marketmanipulation.

With protests and strikes taking on a political edge in many places,pressure has mounted from all sides to take more concerted action againstcorruption. – APP/AFP