Revelation of ‘Illegal Seizure’ by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Khuzestan Steel Company

Radio Farda has obtained a confidential letter showing that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, who hold 49 percent of Khuzestan Steel Company’s shares, are attempting to “illegally seize” control of the remaining shares of the company.

In this confidential letter dated July 7, 2020, Mohammad Qaeemi, liquidation manager of Yas Economic Development Group, wrote to Sadiq Zolghadr, deputy for economic affairs and construction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stating that “any form of illegal seizure” by representatives of the Revolutionary Guards and the Yas Group “will have religious and legal consequences.”

Yas Holding owns 49 percent of Khuzestan Steel Company shares, which is considered one of the three main poles of steel production in Iran.

The remaining shares of this company have been distributed to the public through equity shares, but the control of management and affairs of Khuzestan Steel Company is in the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is considered its major shareholder.

According to official information, Khuzestan Steel Company is “Iran’s largest supplier of steel ingots and the second pole of raw steel production.”

Yas Holding was the main organization of the Cooperative Foundation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the field of services, mediation, and housing, and has been involved in multiple corruption cases in the past three years.

One of the most famous corruption cases of this company relates to trillion-toman transactions of this holding with Tehran Municipality, which led to the arrest of Isa Sharifi, former deputy mayor of Tehran during Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s tenure.

According to official company registration documents, this holding was declared dissolved in February 2018, but this newly obtained document by Radio Farda shows that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps not only has maintained this holding’s shares in Khuzestan Steel Company, but is also seeking to increase its shareholding.

Mr. Qaeemi also explained in his letter that the Yas Group currently has no “control and supervision” over its assets and “responsibility and consequences of Khuzestan Steel’s economic failures” lie with the officials in charge in the future.

This phrase indicates that part of Yas Group’s assets, which were supposed to be under the control of the group’s liquidation manager tasked with carrying out matters related to the company’s dissolution, are actually not in their possession, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, despite the nominal and formal dissolution of this group, continues to conduct economic activities with part of Yas Group’s assets.

Actions Contrary to Law by ‘Model Jihadi Manager’

In another section of the letter obtained by Radio Farda, it is mentioned that the actions of Ali Mohammadi, CEO of Khuzestan Steel Company, over the past year have been “contrary to law” and have caused “violation of the rights of the people (small shareholders).”

According to this letter, 51 percent of Khuzestan Steel Company shares “belong to some individuals and the working class,” and the Revolutionary Guards, under the pretext of “charitable actions or poverty alleviation,” intend to take “actions contrary to law.”

Ali Mohammadi has been appointed as CEO of Khuzestan Steel Company since August 2019. Mr. Mohammadi, who is among the industrial managers trusted by the Revolutionary Guards, was introduced as a “model jihadi manager” in December 2019 at a conference attended by Ebrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary.

In a letter made available to Radio Farda, it is mentioned that on several occasions, attempts have been made through the chairman of Khuzestan Steel Company’s board of directors to “remove and take legal action” against Ali Mohammadi, but “each time faced serious opposition from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Revolutionary Guards Command Headquarters.”

What is notable is that, according to official information from Khuzestan Steel Company, seven days after this letter was written, on July 14 of this year, the composition of Khuzestan Steel Company’s board of directors was changed, and Ismail Ashoori was selected as board chairman instead of Karim Farkhiani.

Mr. Ashoori is present in the board composition representing “Saman Majd Investment Company.” This company is one of the subsidiaries of Ansar Bank, affiliated with the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards.

More Details About Yas Holding Corruption

As mentioned, Yas Holding was dissolved in 2017 after several corruption cases were raised, including those related to this massive economic institution’s dealings with Tehran Municipality.

According to Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, a political activist and spokesperson for the Khatami government, this holding was involved in a 13 trillion-toman corruption case.

In recent years, three main figures related to Yas Holding – Jamaladin Abroomand, former deputy for coordination of the Revolutionary Guards and chairman of the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards; Masoud Mehrdadi, economic deputy of the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards; and Mahmoud Seif – have been highlighted in the media.

Mahmoud Seif, who was an active security figure in the field of counterfeit currency and arms deals for the Quds Force, operated under the name Mohsen Sajadinieh in companies affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation within Iran.

Jamaladin Abroomand was removed from his position as deputy for coordination of the Revolutionary Guards and chairman of the Cooperative Foundation in June 2018 and was appointed as “successor to the soft war headquarters.”

Mohammad Ali Jafari, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards who was removed in April 2019, has also been assigned to head this headquarters by order of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.

It is unclear whether Mr. Jafari’s dismissal was related to the Yas Holding case, but all violations of this holding occurred during his command of the Revolutionary Guards.

Moreover, unlike the previous commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Rahim Safavi, who was appointed as an advisor to the Supreme Leader after the end of his tenure, Ayatollah Khamenei refrained from issuing an advisory decree for Mohammad Ali Jafari, which somewhat indicated a diminishment of his status.

On the other hand, multiple media reports have been published about the arrest of Masoud Mehrdadi and Mahmoud Seif, but judicial and security authorities have not yet provided any explanation about the status of these two individuals.

Mohsen Hashemi, chairman of Tehran City Council, announced on July 15, 2018, that the corruption case of the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards is being reviewed at the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the military prosecutor of the judiciary. The status of investigating this case is also unclear.

Moreover, no reports have been published over the past three years regarding the status of companies and shares of the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation.

Transfer of Mission Between Yas Holding and the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Decree

In November 2018, reports were published about the transfer of the Cooperative Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards’ shares in telecommunications, one of the largest assets of the Revolutionary Guards, to the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Decree, another economic institution under the control of Ayatollah Khamenei; but most of these reports are published in general terms without providing details.

Another important case related to Yas Holding was the three trillion-toman auction of broadcast advertisements, which in 2015 caused a conflict between Mohammad Sarafraz, then head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, and Yas Holding and the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization.

At that time, he decided to auction the “annual revenues” of IRIB. The auction was won by the state bank “Taavon Development” which undertook to pay 7 trillion tomans to IRIB over three years (2016 to 2018). According to Sarafraz, the Yas Holding-Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization spectrum disrupted this auction and subsequently, through legal proceedings, forced him to resign.

After problems emerged related to corruption cases that led to an order from the Supreme Leader for investigation by the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Yas Holding was forced to withdraw from this project, and Tosca Company, a subsidiary of the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Decree, assumed responsibility for advancing this project.

It is expected that in line with this mission transfer, larger portions of Yas Holding’s assets and companies will be transferred to institutions such as the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Decree.

This transfer, which is like moving money from pocket to pocket, enables institutions under the supervision of the Supreme Leader to gain greater opportunity for concealment and expansion of their economic empire.

Source: Radio Farda