Corruption, mismanagement in spotlight as Iran dissolves major private bank

Tehran, Iran – Authorities have merged one of Iran’s largest private lenders into the country’s biggest state-run bank in a move that highlights a deeply troubled economy and will further squeeze average citizens as pressure from the West grows .

The central bank on Thursday announced that Ayandeh Bank, privately owned by one of Iran’s wealthiest families, would be dissolved and merged with Bank Melli, the government-run national bank, and that Ayandeh branches across the country would be transformed into Bank Melli branches by Sunday.

Customers were told their accounts and deposits are safe, and all contracts remain under the same conditions. But after years of murky operations and central bank interventions, Ayandeh had racked up losses on a scale that impacted Iran’s macroeconomics