Iran, South Africa, bribery, and cell phones. Oh my.
Danielle Pletka | American Enterprise Institute
March 30, 2012

World Economic Forum/Eric Miller

Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, captured during the Opening Plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa, June 4, 2008.

  • Download

Article Highlights

  • A Turkish mobile media giant alleges that MTN Group Ltd, Africa’s largest mobile operator, bribed Iranians.

    Tweet This

  • Turkcell, a Turkish mobile media giant, alleges that MTN Group Ltd sold South African votes at the IAEA and UN.

    Tweet This

  • Iran, South Africa, bribery, and cell phones – oh my!

    Tweet This

This story isn’t getting enough play, and it deserves more. Ludlum couldn’t have written it better. Here are the highlights:

In a complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, aka Turkcell, the Turkish mobile media giant, alleges that MTN Group Ltd, Africa’s largest mobile operator, bribed Iranians, sold South African votes at the IAEA and UN, and otherwise prostituted South African foreign policy to oust Turkcell from its contract in Iran and gain the lucrative market for itself.

Wait, it gets better. There’s “Long-J,” Iran’s former deputy former minister Javid Ghorbanoghli (allegedly bribed). There’s “Short-J,” Yusuf Saloojee, South Africa’s ambassador in Tehran in 2004 (also allegedly bribed).

There’s arms for cellphone contracts—allegedly including “Denel AH-2 Rooivalk helicopters, encrypted military radios, sniper rifles, G5 howitzer artillery weapons, cannons, armored personnel carriers and radar technology.” The whole arms list was supposedly codenamed “The Fish.”

There are clandestine visits between Supreme Leader Khamenei emissary Ali Larijani to then South African President Thabo Mbeki, allegedly in 2007. And another, allegedly, from then Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Needless to say, ex-Clinton counsel Lanny Davis represents MTN’s law firm. Of course he does. Who will Angelina play? Hard to tell yet.

Read the whole story here.

  • Download
Also Visit
AEIdeas Blog The American Magazine
About the Author

 

Danielle
Pletka

  • As a long-time Senate Committee on Foreign Relation senior professional staff member for the Near East and South Asia, Danielle Pletka was the point person on Middle East, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan issues. As the vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at AEI, Pletka writes on national security matters with a focus on Iran and weapons proliferation, the Middle East, Syria, Israel and the Arab Spring. She also studies and writes about South Asia: Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.


    Pletka is the co-editor of “Dissent and Reform in the Arab World: Empowering Democrats” (AEI Press, 2008) and the co-author of “Containing and Deterring a Nuclear Iran” (AEI Press, 2011). Her most recent study, “Iranian influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan,” was published in May 2012. She is currently working on a follow-up report on U.S.–Iranian competitive strategies in the Middle East, to be published in the summer of 2013.


  • Phone: 202-862-5943
    Email: dpletka@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Alexandra Della Rocchetta
    Phone: 202-862-7152
    Email: alex.dellarocchetta@aei.org
Show More | See Full Profile

What's new on AEI

image How to stop Assad's slaughter
image FHA Watch, May 2013 (Vol. 2, No. 5)
image Apple becomes latest target of the Beltway shakedown
image Lack of adult supervision in the Obama administration
close

Join the AEI Media List

AEI's press office frequently sends press advisories highlighting the availability of scholars to discuss particular news topics, as well as recent AEI products (such as studies, articles, and testimonies). Please enter your contact information below to be added to our media list.
JOIN MEDIA LIST
AEI on Facebook
Events Calendar
  • 20
    MON
  • 21
    TUE
  • 22
    WED
  • 23
    THU
  • 24
    FRI
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Free beer: Liberating libations from ‘Bootleggers and Baptists’

Join us for a discussion of the history and future of federal and state alcohol regulation and competition, followed by a reception with beer, wine, and spirits.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NCLB sanctions: Tests taken, lessons learned

Join education scholars and practitioners for a discussion about the latest NCLB research and its implications for future education policy.

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Competing visions of the common good: Rethinking help for the poor

What shared commitments do we have as citizens and neighbors to care for one another? How can a proper ordering of America’s political economy enable the most people to have the best life? At this event, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime champion of human rights causes, and AEI President Arthur Brooks will join Wallis in addressing these and other questions.

Event Registration is Closed
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled today.
No events scheduled this day.
No events scheduled this day.