Activities.2C issues.2C organization Setad

1 activities, issues, organization

1.1 economic activities
1.2 organization structure , holdings
1.3 legal protections , issues

1.3.1 protection oversight
1.3.2 management , disposal of confiscated assets
1.3.3 destination of proceeds


1.4 setad , revolutionary guards
1.5 sanctions

activities, issues, organization

economic activities

in expanding corporate holdings, setad has acquired dozens of iranian companies , stakes in other companies both private , public. information of doings limited organization secretive , little known .

as bonyad (iranian charitable foundation), setad has been involved in charitable activities including building of schools, roads , health clinics, providing of electricity , water in rural , impoverished areas, , assisted of entrepreneurs in development projects. setad officials state assets have been acquired legitimately, , part of profits acquisition go charity. how of setad s activities philanthropic unknown books off limits public , parliament of iran. (in 2008 iran s parliament voted prohibit monitoring organizations supreme leader controls, except permission .)

in 2013, reuters news agency published three-part investigative series on setad — assets of ayatollah — arguing contrary claim of being custodian of property without owners, conglomerate has been built on systematic seizure of thousands of properties belonging ordinary iranians , not officially condemned bahais, shi ite muslims, business people , iranians living abroad . owners of confiscated property complain setad methodical moneymaking scheme using court orders obtained under false pretenses seize properties . owners of property pressured buy property or pay huge fees recover them . (reuters questions whether practices of setad not belie 1 of fundamental claims islamic republic. founder of setad , islamic republic—ayatollah ruhollah khomeini—asserted in work islamic government contrary un-islamic monarchy of shah later overthrow, islamic government not [be] tyranny, head of state can deal arbitrarily property , lives of people, making use of them wills. ali khamenei himself described era of monarchy 1 where, our people living under pressure of corrupt, tyrannical , greedy governments many years, [the shah s father] grabbed ownership of developed piece of land in parts of country ... accumulated wealth. accumulated property. accumulated jewelry themselves. )

acolytes of man controls conglomerate, supreme leader, emphasize spartan lifestyle, modest wardrobe , furnishings in tehran home. reuters investigation of setad found no evidence khamenei tapping setad enrich himself . critics accuse supreme leader of using great wealth of setad political power. serving supreme leader, setad helps fund beite rahbar, ( leader s house ). whereas first supreme leader, khomeini, had small staff, under khamenei beite rahbar has grown 500 people ... many recruited military , security services .

as of 2008 setad s real estate holding reportedly worth $52 billion. organization regularly conducts large auctions of real estate - @ least 59 of november 2013. in 1 auction in may 2013, 300 properties sale, required opening bids totaled $88 million .

setad s stakes in publicly traded companies totaled $3.4 billion of 2013. controls many businesses in holds small stakes. in 1 case, transformed formerly liberal, privately owned parsian bank—iran s largest non-state bank in 2006—with new managers, new strict dress code, etc. despite having small stake (estimated 16%) in ownership. rey investment co., setad subsidiary, has been accused of pressuring iran’s biggest dealer of german automobiles sell sell stake in auto dealership. evade sanctions, setad has maintained complex network of front companies , subsidiaries abroad in places germany, croatia, south africa, uae, turkey , beyond.

according unnamed former employee of setad spoke reuters, khamenei appoints board of directors delegates management of setad others, having himself 1 primary interest—setad s annual profits, uses fund bureaucracy .

iranian authorities have stated findings of reuters investigation lack basis , far realities , not correct, have given no further details.

political advantage

as organ of supreme leader, setad not overseen islamic consultative assembly (iranian parliament). is, however, important factor in khameni s power, giving him financial independence parliament , national budget, , insulating him iran s messy factional infighting . according reuters news agency, revenue stream provided setad, helps explain why khamenei has not held on power 24 years in ways has more control revered predecessor khomeini.

khamenei family

according sources critical of supreme leader, members of khamenei s family have deposited large sums in foreign bank accounts. in 2009, british banks froze $1.6 billion in funds belonging ali khamenei s son (mojtaba khamenei) according payvand.com. according leaked reports in 2011, ali khamenei had $36 billion in bank accounts abroad, , son mojtaba $21 billion. various other khamenei family members alleged have hundreds of millions of dollars deposited in wide array of foreign banks , financial institutions. according 2015 report, khamenei claims have personal net worth of $150 million.

organization structure , holdings

the following companies among entities affiliate eiko (aka setad):

barakat foundation
tadbir economic development group company (tedg)

tadbir energy group

pars oil company
bahman geno company (hormoz oil refinery company)
the persia company of oil , gas industry development
qaed basir petrochemical products company
north drilling company
tadbir drilling development company
rey niroo engineering company
abadan electrical power generation company
modaberan chemistry company
tadbir parsian refining company
pars bazargan trading company


iran mobin electronic development (holding co.)

tose e etemad mobin (tem)

mehr eghtesad novin company
telecommunication company of iran (tci) (shared army of guardians of islamic revolution)
mobile telecommunication company of iran (mci) (shared army of guardians of islamic revolution)


taliya communications


tadbir industry , mine development company

karun phosphate complex products company
abadgaran ma dan iranian
ayandegaran sanat va madan farda


tadbir investment group

tosee eqtesad ayandehsazan company (teaco)


barakat pharmed company
tadbir construction development group

an organigram eiko (setad) of 2002-3 produced u.s. department of treasury follow:

legal protections , issues
protection oversight

khamenei, judges, , parliament have issued series of bureaucratic edicts, constitutional interpretations , judicial decisions on years bolstering setad. in addition 2008 vote iranian parliament prohibit monitoring organizations controlled supreme leader without permission. should parliament change mind, powerful guardian council (whose clerics , jurists directly or indirectly appointed khamenei), has issued declaration setad beyond parliament s authority, prior these decisions, reuters reports in 1997 after reformist mohammad khatami elected president, government legal commission declared iranian anti-corruption body known general inspection office had no right inspect setad unless supreme leader requested in order shield setad scrutiny .

unlike other foundations in iran, setad not include logo or full name in newspaper advertisements listing auctions of confiscated property. large gray concrete headquarters in tehran unidentified.

reuters notes while critics complain these protections why no 1 knows going on inside organizations setad , khamenei maintains no 1 above supervision, in islamic government, not leader ... let alone organizations linked leader, , welcome supervision, , opposed evading it. personally, more supervision receive, happier be.

management , disposal of confiscated assets

there ambiguity , contradiction in iranian laws confiscation assets , asset forfeiture, particularly has jurisdiction on it. under article 49 of constitution, government obliged confiscate illegal wealth , return owner, , if no such owner can identified, must entrusted public treasury . ministry overseen parliament , president, rather supreme leader (although supreme leader ruler of iran).

however, in 1984 implementation of article 49 of iranian constitution ratified parliament of iran (when akbar hashemi rafsanjani speaker of parliament) transferred right control huge part of public assets, replacing treasury entity (setad) outside government , in direct control of supreme leader of iran.

in apparent conflict decision, law ratified parliament in 1992 (when politician, mehdi karroubi speaker of parliament), calling transfer of confiscated assets government , establishing organization collection , sale of state-owned properties of iran under ministry of economic affairs , finance deal assets. despite transferring control of confiscated assets government, law never implemented due circulars issued chief justice mahmoud hashemi shahroudi in 2009, , successor, chief justice sadeq larijani in 2013. (the chief justice in iran appointed supreme leader of iran based on article 110 of iranian constitution.)

destination of proceeds

the key actors involved in confiscation in iran are:

islamic revolutionary court, issue final confiscation order;
setad: attends management , disposal in form.

in contradiction common practice setad not manages disposal of confiscated assets, destination of proceeds.

setad , revolutionary guards

setad , army of guardians of islamic revolution (irgc) both under control of supreme leader of iran , have cooperated in different fields in recent decades.

in 2011, consortium known mobin trust consortium (tem) purchased of 51% of shares of telecommunication company of iran (tci). acquisition among biggest in iran s history. largest stakeholder of consortium company controlled revolutionary guards , , setad controlled 38%. terms of payment favorable—tem required make down payment of 20% , had 8 years pay rest of price. board of managers of tci has members both setad , irgc. example, dr. ali baghaei ceo , vice chairman of tadbir economic development group (a subsidiary of setad) , @ same time president of mci subsidiary of tci. mr. seyed asadollah dehnad member of irgc member of board of mci.

the takeover of tci setad , revolutionary guard assisted government regulator, iranian privatisation organisation (ipo), eliminated competing bid tci (by telecom company called pishgaman kavir yazd cooperative co.) day before sale of tci. in 2010, man responsible elimination of bid—the head of ipo @ time of sale, gholamreza heydari kord zanganeh—was appointed managing director of tose e eqtesad ayandehsazan co, or teaco—a giant holding company owned setad. later named chairman of large pharmaceutical holding company owned setad (sobhan pharma group). both examples of revolving door between setad , iran s government , according reuters.

sanctions

in july 2010, european union added president of setad, mohammad mokhber, list of individuals , entities being sanctioning alleged involvement in nuclear or ballistic missiles activities. 2 years later, removed him list without explanation, allegedly in attempt fend off broader iranian legal challenge financial sanctions on iran s banks , bank directors .

united states department of treasury took action on 4 june 2013 expose eiko (setad) -- called massive network of front companies —and declare subject sanctions pursuant executive order 13599, blocks property of government of iran , (prohibiting u.s. persons engaging in transactions people meeting definition of government of iran ).

a january 16, 2016 government document stated eiko not on sdn list (specially designated national) nor subject secondary sanctions , persons required continue block property , interests in property of eiko (setad) in accordance executive order 13599.

(the 2015 geneva interim agreement on iranian nuclear program eases sanctions may benefit petrochemical companies belonging setad according reuters.)

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