Iran commutes a tycoon’s death sentence to 20 years in prison

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that a tycoon’s death sentence has been commuted to 20 years in prison after he returned around $2.1 billion in assets from illegally selling oil abroad. IRNA cited a spokesman for the judiciary in its report on Tuesday. The 48-year-old Babak Zanjani was sentenced to death in 2016 over a number of charges. They included money laundering, forgery and fraud that disrupted the country’s economy. IRNA quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying that an appeal for amnesty by Zanjani was reviewed and his death sentence was “commuted to 20 years of prison term after approval by the Supreme Leader.“ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all state matters and occasionally issues pardons.