We were Bankrupt Years Ago says ex-Oil Minister of Iran

'our banks went bust years before the current global banking crisis. But the officials here did not tell the people about it. The current global banking crisis was revealed because of accountability in the rest of the world, but here in Iran there is no accountability and no one realises what has become of our banks. Iran's banks have suffered a crisis unprecedented throughout Iran's banking history'

Zanganeh added, 'we are now in a crisis that apart from the sudden drop in oil prices, the current global banking crisis has nothing to do with it. Some people are happy that we have not suffered as a result of the global financial crisis, but first of all if our economy is not linked to the global economy, this is nothing to be proud of and secondly who says we are not in a crisis?'

Regarding the lack of lending facilities by the banks, Zanganeh said ' Iranian banks can no longer lend because they are in the red by millions. It is not clear to whom much of the money was lent to and the money that has been lent, to whoever that borrowed it, is not coming back. '

Zanganeh finished by taking a jibe at Ahmadinejad saying '...Our human assets have been humiliated in these years, our management institutions have been insulted, when they talk about a 14 year old girl who is enriching uranium in her cellar, [Watch Ahmadinejad claim this] this is an insult to any human being's intelligence'