A feast for the eyes!

Judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie said at the press conference that apart from the death sentence, Zanjani must repay money to the state.

Zanjani became notorious during the era of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, finding ways to channel hard currency from oil sales to Tehran despite financial sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic's banks as punishment for its nuclear programme.

The trial was held in public, a rarity for such a major case in Iran, and two other accused were also convicted of "corruption on earth", the most serious offence under the country's criminal code, meaning they too will face the death penalty.