IRGC-Linked Website Denies Selling Shah's Bugatti To Fix Budget

1939 Bugatti Type 57C “Shah” on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, the United States
1939 Bugatti Type 57C “Shah” on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, the United States

An IRGC-affiliated news website has dismissed allegations that the classic Bugatti car once owned by Iran's former Shah has been sold to address budget shortfalls.

Fars News Agency stated that in 1959, the car in question was sold to an individual named Houshang Jalili and subsequently taken out of the country.

"The car, bearing its Persian plate, was later sold to an American collector in the 1960s and has since been part of the collection at the Petersen Museum in California. It has never been among the assets of Sa’adabad Palace since the Islamic Revolution," Fars News added.

The agency wrote that the car, currently on display at the Petersen Museum in America, was originally gifted by the French government in 1939 to mark the marriage of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to Egyptian princess Fawzia Fuad.

This isn't the first instance of reports circulating about the sale of this prestigious car. In 2020, Kia Parsa, the director of the Sa’adabad Cultural-Historical Complex, refuted similar social media reports regarding the sale of a 57C Bugatti, once owned by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran is facing a significant infrastructure deficit estimated at $500 billion. While many commentators and regime politicians in Iran often attribute economic challenges to President Ebrahim Raisi's administration, broader factors including foreign policy decisions, particularly under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, play a significant role. Sanctions from the US and Europe, coupled with limited foreign investments, have intensified Iran's reliance on dwindling oil exports.