Bijan Zanganeh, Iran's former oil minister, says he has filed a lawsuit against Iranian presidential candidates Saeed Jalili and Alireza Zakani for “slandering and insulting” him on state TV during the fourth presidential debate on June 24.

During the debate, hardliner Zakani suggested that ‘reformist’ candidate Masoud Pezeshkian was involved in the controversial Crescent deal, a contract signed between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Sharjah-based Crescent Petroleum which led to a legal dispute at the Hague court and cost Iran $607 million for non-compliance with the agreement.

Zanganeh was Iran's oil minister under President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), whose government is known as Iran's reformist administration.

"During Khatami's term, the greatest betrayals in the oil sector happened to the country," Zakani said during the debate.

Jalili also accused Zanganeh of "corruption and plundering billions of dollars" concerning the Crescent deal.

Zanganeh denied these claims. In a post on X, he attached a copy of his complaint filed with Tehran's Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor and pointed to the specific charge of "publication of falsehoods" punishable by law as outlined in the Islamic Penal Code. He demanded "criminal prosecution" of Jalili and Zakani.

The attack by the two hardliners was part of their election campaign to smear Iran's 'reformists' and present themselves as fighters against corruption. Despite the reformist-hardliner dichotomy, over 60% of voters stayed away from the polls on Friday, in what is seen as a big blow to the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.