The Corruption of Each Era Can Be Described in Two Domains:
– The domain of government and governmental officials; which can be discussed in two axes: one regarding rulers and senior and high-ranking managers of society, and another regarding mid-level and low-level officials and managers.
– The domain of people and society.
There is a close relationship between the corruption of rulers and the corruption of the people. If rulers are corrupt and immoral individuals, based on the principle “people follow the religion of their rulers,” people also tend toward corruption, and if people are corrupt, virtuous rulers will be drawn toward corruption, and if these rulers resist, corrupt people through rebellion and other means will remove virtuous rulers and place corrupt officials in power. This is an undeniable principle that with slight reflection becomes clear, and numerous historical examples can be found for it.
The story of the Martyrs Foundation and its behind-the-scenes issues is among the strange secrets and mysteries of Iran. This extensive organization, which was established to support the families of those killed in the Iran-Iraq War, has itself become one of the largest economic centers and certainly embezzlement hubs in Iran, operating in all kinds of commercial business from energy and chain stores to mining, poultry farming, and banking. The story of this thousand-doored house is like the tales of the Thousand and One Nights—fascinating and instructive. What has happened in this profitable establishment so far is both strange and thrilling, and painful and regrettable. From whatever group’s perspective one looks at this money-making organization, it appears very attractive and pleasant. Both for families who lost their breadwinners during the devastating war with Iraq and whom this organization is supposed to support during difficult years of life without a father, and for individuals chosen to run this organization’s affairs to benefit from the generous table prepared with the blood of Iranian youth. The story of the Martyrs Foundation is a paradise story such that whoever enters it no longer wishes to leave, and this money-making paradise, whose assets have repeatedly been misused for various purposes—whether embezzlement, bribery, or influence over elections and vote-buying—has now entered a new period and a new game.
The Martyrs Foundation sought from the past, specifically during Zarif’s tenure, to develop some of its activities. Entering domains such as energy, banking, stock market, poultry and cattle farming, construction, and others are examples of this. The Zarif period, with the establishment of Bank Melli (Bank D), was a turning point and the root of the beginning of stories whose stems and leaves have now sprouted. Today, the strange and unusual embezzlement of Bank D, whose CEO was appointed by Maiad Sadeghi (sister-in-law and son-in-law of the head of the Martyrs Foundation, Ayatollah Shahidi, and brother-in-law…), is no secret to anyone. In fact, one must search for the root of all these large and small incidents among individuals who serve as senior managers in the Martyrs Foundation, and the purpose of this article is to clarify the reality of these individuals and organized corruption teams and what lies behind them. The Martyrs Foundation has two important economic arms: the Kauthar Economic Organization and the Shahid Institution.
Each of these economically powerful establishments is a shop for profiteering and a den for various political individuals who use its resources for personal or partisan purposes.
These individuals, most of whom have not suffered any harm from the war with Iraq or subsequent events, have considered benefit from this endless table their right and regard it as their exclusive property. A striking example of this trend has been occurring in the Kauthar Economic Organization for years, and whatever is added to its economic capacity, corruption, collusion, and political dealings to cover up its embezzlements become more apparent than before. This results from a policy that has existed in the Martyrs Foundation for years—preventing leakage of various issues and problems of this foundation to the outside. A policy that has its victims and particular supporters and has thus far managed to succeed. This article deals solely with the Kauthar Economic Organization because it has held the vast majority of the Martyrs Foundation’s economy in various and monopolistic sectors, and in recent years with Mohammad Reza Eskandari coming to power (deposed minister of agriculture during Ahmadinejad and one of the appointed individuals to Mohammad Javad Airvani, one of the important deputy positions of the Supreme Leader’s office), both the scope of its activities has expanded and its economic and moral corruption has increased. What is strange about Mohammad Reza Eskandari and his inner circle is not multiple embezzlements and sometimes financial support for presidential candidates like Saeed Jalili, but rather their low profile in public view and yet prominent role in electoral scenes. This group remaining from the Ahmadinejad era has not merely remained in the Kauthar Economic Organization for economic purposes and with complete support from the Supreme Leader’s office’s oversight and audit deputy, but the behind-the-scenes goals are much grander and more complex than these realities, and the author of this article seeks to explain the diverse dimensions of these political margins. What we seek to explain derives from sources within the Martyrs Foundation and Kauthar Economic Organization and has been hidden for years in the hidden layers of its management. The presence of individuals with long management records in the Martyrs Foundation and political power teams formed in that direction are the main factors and foundation of all current events. The reader of this article has the right to investigate and perceive the truth regarding all its aspects as they deem fit.
The structure of power and corruption in the Martyrs Foundation is not the same and from only one group, but the main ring and certainly all secondary rings, whether directly or indirectly, lead to Esfandiar Rahim Mashai. Masoud Zarif, the former head of the Martyrs Foundation, and even Mohammad Ali Shahidi, its current head, are appointees and those directly connected to Mashai. Particularly Shahidi, who with Mashai’s support reached the position of head of the inspection body of the presidency, and was chosen from that time to enter the reformist front and the person of Hassan Rouhani, who was his close friend, to succeed Zarif, whom the parliamentary investigation committee, and particularly its chair Khojastehand, had applied pressure to in order to achieve their political ambitions.
In 1388 (2009), after Mohsen Mehr Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Eskandari was selected by Zarif to head the Kauthar Economic Organization. His selection was not based on friendship with Zarif but based on the recommendation and support of Mohammad Javad Airvani. The same person who mediated Eskandari’s presence in the Supreme Leader’s office and proposed the wheat self-sufficiency plan by Eskandari and obtained approval from the Supreme Leader’s office, and despite opposition from Hejjati (then deputy of the Ministry of Agriculture) ultimately implemented it and led to Eskandari’s appointment as minister.
Airvani’s behind-the-scenes role in covering up the extensive violations of the Kauthar Economic Organization today is very important and fundamental. He has influence in the General Inspection Organization of the Country and all audit operations of the Mofid Rahbar Consulting Institution (responsible for auditing companies under the Supreme Leader’s office) are conducted under his supervision. Airvani is one of the most influential and important members of the missing ring of the Martyrs Foundation, which has prevented the media and legal scandal that occurred in Bank D from repeating in the Kauthar Economic Organization. Eskandari’s devotion and dependence on him is to such an extent that given all the subjects and margins of the Kauthar Economic Organization and Eskandari’s role and sometimes some family members’ involvement in its embezzlements and even some financial misuses by Kauthar managers (which will be mentioned further), Mohammad Reza Eskandari certainly knows he will remain in this position until 1397 (2018), and until then he and his corrupt managers can plan for their political future and even influence using the Kauthar Economic Organization’s financial capacity for upcoming elections.
Even when there were murmurs about the Martyrs Foundation withdrawing from economic activities due to its extensive embezzlement and money laundering, through behind-the-scenes agreements between Mohammad Javad Airvani and Mohammad Reza Eskandari, the plan to transfer top and profitable companies of the Kauthar Economic Organization to the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Order (whose former head was Mohammad Javad Airvani) was finalized, and with the transfer of shares of the above companies to this complex, the scope of diverse and extensive corruption by these individuals will continue. Airvani’s extensive influence and complete support of Mohammad Reza Eskandari is sufficient to the point that even the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence and the powerful General Inspection Organization of the Country cannot intervene in the affairs of the Kauthar Economic Organization, and anyone who interferes with them is either tempted or somehow eliminated. Buying inspectors and managers of the General Inspection Organization of the Country, deputies and senior managers of the Martyrs Foundation, some parliamentary representatives, and preventing any leakage of information about the vast amount of corruption in the Kauthar Economic Organization even considering the media threats by Khojastehand, head of the parliamentary investigation committee of the Martyrs Foundation, all demonstrate the power of this corruption mafia right in the heart of the Martyrs Foundation complex and even the Supreme Leader’s office in Iran. The protection and preservation of Eskandari and his companions is so important to Mohammad Javad Airvani that even the position of head of security of the Kauthar Economic Organization complex is not subject to change and transfer, and a very notorious and corrupt person like Mehdi Ebrahimi has held the helm of security management of the Kauthar complex, and even the entire Ministry of Intelligence’s security cannot demand accountability for his actions. Ebrahimi and a number of those around him and his friends who have nested in Kauthar’s security for years have done whatever corruption and embezzlement they could, turning this giant of Iranian agriculture into a quagmire of corruption and ruin. Mehdi Ebrahimi, who is a relative of Mahmoud Moloozadeh, former head of security of the Martyrs Foundation and current manager of complaint handling for the foundation, along with a few of his associates like Hossam Momeni Nasab, Mojtaba Amini, Kalahar, and other individuals in the Kauthar Economic Organization complex like Azim Jalali, Saeed Khan Dai Qomsar, Gholamreza Panah, Saeed Shokori, and…are a group of freeloaders who do whatever it takes to achieve Eskandari’s goals.
These individuals who receive unlimited salaries (sometimes over 15 million per month) and strange bonuses only from the Kauthar organization and from its subsidiary companies which have their own appointed managers also receive free and unaccounted money, have grown like parasites in this complex and are now transformed into a seven-headed dragon. Whatever subjects and dealings of individuals like Airvani and Eskandari are important, the works of these people are complicated and full of moral implications and multiple financial and operational corruption. An individual like Mehdi Ebrahimi who once was responsible for purchasing items under 100,000 tomans for the Ministry of Sports, is now in the position of head of security, and with the cooperation and collaboration of corrupt individuals, is the cause of moving millions of tomans of money. Managers under Ebrahimi such as: Hossam Momeni Nasab who himself has unethical relationships with some married and single women in companies and is known for taking bribes, Mojtaba Amini known as “crazy Mojtaba” who carries physical and psychological effects resulting from the Iran-Iraq War and disability, and moreover after the death of his wife in old age, has turned to relationships with girls and women in the companies of the Kauthar complex and multiple uses of them, Kalahar who through marriage to the sister of Dr. Shahrokhi (one of the security managers of the Kauthar organization) reached security and management positions and is a loyal and devoted member of Ebrahimi, Azim Jalali who after reaching the position of financial director of the Kauthar organization and multiple account adjustments for Eskandari and his friends benefited from astronomical salaries and whose retirement benefit amount with Eskandari’s help reached over one billion tomans, Saeed Khan Dai Qomsar whose role in the corruption-filled Kauthar organization is unclear and only because of being a martyr’s child reached a position, and people of this kind who are nothing but parasites in the worm-eaten body of the Kauthar Economic Organization and each day are more than before striking at its roots, are examples of appointment of opportunistic and incompetent managers by Eskandari.
The sale of assets and buildings of companies affiliated with the Kauthar Economic Organization through direct management of Hossein Shahavi (deputy head of Kauthar organization) and identification of profits from this means for this collapsing complex seems to be the last remaining solution for Mohammad Reza Eskandari’s associates to keep him afloat for a few more mornings and continue their plundering and looting under his shadow. Although Eskandari himself in some cases firmly opposes these suicidal actions of his associates and seeks not to make his reputation a plaything in their hands, but internal political dealings of these people and multiple collusions with Eskandari have in some cases weakened his management power.
When Mohammad Ali Shahidi, head of the Martyrs Foundation, intended to remove Eskandari and had even passed through Mohammad Javad Airvani’s filter, what prevented the implementation of this decision was a political deal between Eskandari and Shahidi. The story of this deal goes back to the appointment of the CEO of Talkam Company, one of the subsidiaries of the Kauthar organization, which was imposed on Eskandari by Maiad Sadeghi, nephew and son-in-law of Shahidi, and during his management, by importing 5,000 Mazda vehicles in the name of the Martyrs Foundation using government foreign exchange and subsequently selling them on the free market at high prices, yielded substantial profits to Maiad Sadeghi’s corrupt team. A story that was quite intelligently used by Eskandari to prevent his removal by Shahidi through this political deal.
The interesting part of this matter is its non-publication by Khojastehand, head of the parliamentary investigation committee of the Martyrs Foundation, who by magnifying the stories of corruption in Bank D, Insurance D, Sobhan Company, and a few others pushed this violation to the margins, and himself with the help of Shahidi and his mediation to Hassan Rouhani, president of the Islamic government, in the tenth parliamentary elections qualified (he was initially disqualified in the first stage) and was able to be present again in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
Sweet stories of economic violations and moral corruption of the Martyrs Foundation and Kauthar Economic Organization have turned these complexes into a paradise for those seeking shares in the Islamic government, and apparently this share-seeking has no end. All senior managers of the Kauthar organization have the problem of economic corruption in some form, and this is openly present in the economic deputy of the Kauthar Economic Organization and certainly in the person of Gholamreza Panah (economic deputy of Eskandari). He who sought candidacy in elections but was not qualified, through using his connections managed to receive a substantial sum from several Tehran-based capitalists for election costs and spent for his partisan friends’ election expenses, and in the position of economic deputy of the Kauthar organization intends to obtain these monies by any possible means. Companies of the Kauthar organization like Sharifabad Agriculture and Industry run by the nephew of Seyyed Javad Adeli, a long-time friend of Eskandari, and having countless corruption problems, or Moein Kauthar Company which is among the loss-making companies of the Kauthar Economic Organization and even lacks the budget to pay its employees’ salaries, or a company like Talkam that has been driven to ruin, Kavandeh Company that squandered its valuable capital, Montaserin Company that very quietly and without fanfare was dissolved, Jahan Vegetable Oil Company that was sold at a worthless price, loss-making Shahab Company, idle Simkat Company, Tehran Electric Company and its strange events, Sobhan Company and its extensive violations, Amen Asayesh Kauthar Company and its foolish business, Espid Shahid Company and the high volume of hidden bribes of its managers and defaming the name of the Martyrs Foundation, stock exchange companies of the Martyrs Foundation and buying hectares of land in the furthest corners of Iran and various money-laundering through this method for political parties, Bank D and 800 billion in unsecured loans given to Maiad Sadeghi’s corrupt team and some senior deputies of the Martyrs Foundation, Talmar Company and subsidiary companies of the Agricultural Holding whose managers are either thieves affiliated with Maiad Sadeghi and Mehdi Faqihi from Shahidi’s former deputies and certainly first-degree relatives of his, or affiliated with Mohsen Ansari and his servants in the security of the Kauthar organization, or affiliated with senior managers of the Kauthar Economic Organization (like Kauthar Industries and Mines Company, Moein Kauthar Company, etc.) are all parts of the heavy volume of embezzlements carried out in the Kauthar Economic Organization.
In this situation, news media have also not been deprived of this glittering table of Eskandari, and from time to time interviews with him are published and receive several million toman assistance, or like Davoud Huseinzadeh, editor-in-chief of Shahid News, have penetrated the body of the Martyrs Foundation and Kauthar organization, and in addition to receiving 400 million tomans monthly under the title of advertising, they also select managers for companies of the Kauthar Economic Organization.
This colorful table spread over the river of blood of Iranian youth both fills the bellies of these jackals and sharpens their teeth of greed more than before, and with rents and monopolies that exist in the Iranian market for the economic activities of the Martyrs Foundation keeps their hopes for the future alive.
The grieving families of those killed in the Iran-Iraq War, known as families of martyrs, veterans’ families, and martyrs’ children, yesterday’s silent children are today faced with the challenge of plundering wealth that is carried out in their name and with the hunger of wolves who have survived and consider themselves heirs to the blood of those killed in the war or the same martyrs and supporters of their families.
A phrase from Ayatollah Khomeini that has been seen since the past in the letters of the Martyrs Foundation of the Islamic government and is still used, describes the condition of these survivors: Whatever the Islamic Revolution has is from the blessing of the jihad and sacrifice of martyrs and the selfless.
Today, whoever looks at this complex of corruption and ruin from outside, regrets the condition of those who were killed to preserve this Islamic government (whether in the war with Iraq and afterward, or in the Syrian war, etc.), because today everyone knows that those who were safe from the hardships of war and subsequent events and by entering political parties became holders of government seats and chairs, are the real winners and owners of the revolution’s spoils and the keyholders to the Martyrs Foundation’s safe. The real men are all asleep in the dust.
” فَلیسَت تصْلح الرّعیه الا بِصَلاح الولاه وَ لا تَصْلح الولاه الا بِاستقامه الرَّعیه “
The people do not become righteous except through the reform of rulers, and rulers do not become righteous except through the righteousness of the people.
Economic Activities of the Martyrs Foundation
The Martyrs Foundation has financial and administrative independence, and its affairs are managed according to regulations and laws relating to public non-governmental institutions and within the framework of the approved charter and related bylaws under the supervision of the president and the supervision of Ayatollah Khamenei. This foundation is now one of Iran’s largest economic enterprises.
Agriculture and Livestock
The Martyrs Foundation is active in this sector through the Kauthar Agricultural Organization. In total, it has more than 20 companies and holds at least a 30 percent share in livestock feed imports to Iran. Three companies, Zarbal, Parsa Livestock Feed, and Zarbal, are accused of extensive financial violations.
In addition, poultry companies, Chineh, Mashhad Livestock Feed, and the Eastern Agriculture and Industry Complex are also prominent agricultural economic investment companies of Kauthar. The Kauthar Agricultural Services Company alone provides 74 percent of the equipment needed for Iran’s agriculture and livestock sector.
Industrial and Mining Development
The Martyrs Foundation has at least the management and ownership of seven mines in different parts of Iran. The Qorveh, Azna Porcelain, Makoo Marble, and Khormabad mines are only part of the mines in the organization’s possession. This organization has four percent of Iran’s decorative stone production.
In the industrial sector, Sobhan Investment, Buali Investment, and Hormuz Energy Holding are considered major and minority shareholders in Iran’s stock exchange. Shahid Reserve Company is also affiliated with the Martyrs Foundation.
Food Industries
The Martyrs Foundation, through purchasing shares of sugar and dairy companies, has a stake in the ownership of many of these companies. Also, companies affiliated with this organization are active in the production and import of vegetable oil and red meat to Iran.
Bardsir Sugar, Parsa Vegetable Oil, Jahan Oil, Mashhad Oil Pressing, Piranshahr Sugar, Khorasan Sugar, Rita Dairy are among the companies affiliated with the Martyrs Foundation.
Construction Supply
The foundation’s activities in the construction sector are very extensive. In addition to the Kauthar Construction Supply Investment Company, the Shahid Reserve Company is also active in this field and has more than 20 projects under implementation. The construction of commercial projects in Kish, Tehran, and Mashhad are only part of the Martyrs Foundation’s activities.
Aasman Afarin, Ayandeazanan Shahid Khorasan, Behdast Chamestan, Padad, and Ab o Khaak Kauthar companies are among those affiliated with the foundation in the construction sector.
Electricity and Electronics
The Martyrs Foundation operates under the abbreviation Saba in Iran’s electricity and electronics industry. The Electrical and Electronics Investment Company of the Kauthar Economic Organization is a major shareholder of 20 listed and unlisted stock exchange companies in Iran.
Saba is active in Technotaaz, Meter Manufacturing, Smart Components Production, Supply of Electronic Equipment for Oil Industries companies.
Banking Investment
The Martyrs Foundation formally entered the banking and money market sector of Iran in 1379 (2000) with the establishment of Bank D.
Dei Exchange, Bank D, Insurance D, Dei Investment Fund, Shahid Reserve Fund, Kauthar Investment Fund, Buali Investment, Saadi Investment, and Sobhan Investment are among the companies affiliated with the Martyrs Foundation.
Commerce and Trade
Two companies, Sobhan Investment and Shahid Reserve, have commercial subsidiaries. Montaserin, Gift, Parsa Livestock Feed, Espid Commercial Company, Metals Trade, Shams Dubai, Shahid Germany companies, and free shops are among the commercial subsidiaries of the Martyrs Foundation.
The bulk import of pharmaceutical and food supplements to Iran is in the hands of Espid Shahid Company.
Energy
The Martyrs Foundation is active in the energy sector through Shahid Reserve Company, Sobhan Investment, and Buali Investment. Coastal reservoirs in Port Razi and the sale of hydrocarbons and aromatic oil are the announced activities of the Martyrs Foundation in the energy sector.
Also, Sobhan Investment holds ownership of shares in Petropiran and Karun Phosphate. Pars Energy Shahid Kish, Nasr Shahid, and Moulid Energy Shahid are also affiliated with the Martyrs Foundation. Two transportation companies, Target Transportation and Gostaresha Shahid Transportation, also operate in the energy transportation sector.
