Exposing the "illegal intrusion and seizure" of the Revolutionary Guards in the Khuzestan Steel Company

Radio Farda has obtained a confidential letter that shows that IRGC officials, who own 49 percent of Khuzestan Steel, are attempting to "illegally seize" the remaining shares of the company.

In this confidential letter dated July 27, 2020, Mohammad Ghaemi, the liquidation director of the Yas Economic Development Group, addressed to Sadegh Zolghadrnia, the deputy head of the IRGC's Economic and Construction Affairs, writing, among other things, that "any illegal interference and seizure" by representatives of the IRGC and the Yas Group "will result in religious and legal responsibility."

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

The remaining shares of this company have been transferred to the public in the form of equity shares, but control of the management and affairs of Khuzestan Steel is in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards, which is its major shareholder.

According to official information, Khuzestan Steel Company is Iran's "largest supplier of steel ingots and the second largest crude steel production hub."

Yas Holding was the main organization of the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation in the fields of services, brokerage, and housing, and has been involved in numerous corruption cases in the past three years.

One of the company's most famous corruption cases concerns the holding company's ten trillion toman transactions with the Tehran Municipality, which led to the arrest of Issa Sharifi, the former deputy mayor of Tehran during the era of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

According to official company registration documents, this holding company was declared dissolved in February 2017, but this new document obtained by Radio Farda shows that the Revolutionary Guard not only continues to retain the shares of this holding company in the Khuzestan Steel Company, but is also seeking to increase its shares.

Mr. Ghaemi also explained in his letter that Yas Group currently does not have "control and supervision" over its assets and that "the responsibility and consequences of the economic failures of Khuzestan Steel" in the future lie with the authorities.

This statement shows that part of the assets of the Yas Group, which were supposed to be in the possession of the liquidator of the group, who is tasked with carrying out the affairs related to the liquidation of the company, is not in his possession in fact, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, despite the nominal and formal liquidation of the group, is still conducting economic activities with part of the assets of the Yas Group.

Illegal actions of a typical jihadi manager

Another part of the letter, which was obtained by Radio Farda, mentions that the actions of Ali Mohammadi, CEO of Khuzestan Steel, over the past year have been "illegal" and have caused "a violation of the rights of the people (minor shareholders)."

According to this letter, 51 percent of the shares of the Khuzestan Steel Company "belong to certain individuals and the working class," and the IRGC intends to "take illegal actions" under the pretext of "benevolent actions or the alleviation of deprivation."

Ali Mohammadi has been appointed as the CEO of Khuzestan Steel since August 2019. Mr. Mohammadi, who is one of the IRGC's trusted industrial managers, was introduced as an "exemplary jihadi manager" in December 2019 at a conference held in the presence of Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary.

In a letter provided to Radio Farda, it is noted that on several occasions, the chairman of the board of directors of the Khuzestan Steel Company has taken steps to "dismiss and take legal action" against Ali Mohammadi, but "each time, it has been met with serious opposition from the Revolutionary Guards and the command office."

Interestingly, according to official information from the Khuzestan Steel Company, seven days after this letter was written, on July 4th of this year, the composition of the Khuzestan Steel Board of Directors changed and Esmaeil Ashouri was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors instead of Karim Farrokhiani.

Mr. Ashouri is on the board of directors representing Saman Majd Investment Company, a subsidiary of Ansar Bank, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation.

More details about the corruption at Yas Holding

As mentioned, Yas Holding was dissolved after several corruption cases were filed in 2017, including those related to the dealings of this huge economic entity with the Tehran Municipality.

According to Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, a political activist and spokesman for the Khatami government, this holding company was involved in a corruption case worth 13 trillion tomans.

In recent years, three main figures associated with Yas Holding have been in the media: Jamal al-Din Abroomand, former deputy coordinator of the IRGC and chairman of the board of directors of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, Masoud Mehrdadi, deputy economic director of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, and Mahmoud Seif.

Mahmoud Seif, who was a security figure active in the field of counterfeiting banknotes and arms dealing for the IRGC's Quds Force, worked inside Iran under the name Mohsen Sajjadnia in companies affiliated with the IRGC Cooperative Foundation.

In July 2018, Jamaluddin Abroomand was dismissed from the position of Deputy for Coordination of the IRGC and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation and was appointed as the "deputy head of the Soft War Headquarters."

Mohammad Ali Jafari, the former commander of the IRGC who was dismissed in May 2019, is also working as the head of this base by order of the Leader of the Islamic Republic.

It is not clear whether Mr. Jafari's dismissal was related to the Yas Holding case, but all of the violations committed by this holding company occurred during his time as commander of the IRGC.

Furthermore, unlike the previous commander of the IRGC, Rahim Safavi, who was appointed as an advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic after his term ended, Ali Khamenei refused to issue an advisory order to Mohammad Ali Jafari, which was considered a sign of his demotion.

On the other hand, numerous media reports have also been published about the arrest of Massoud Mehrdadi and Mahmoud Seif, but so far, judicial and security officials have not provided any explanation about the status of these two individuals.

Mohsen Hashemi, the head of Tehran City Council, announced on July 6, 2018, that the corruption case of the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation is being investigated by the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Judiciary. The status of the investigation into this case is also unclear.

In addition, over the past three years, no report has been published on the status of the companies and stocks of the Revolutionary Guard Cooperative Foundation.

Transfer of mission between Yas Holding and the Executive Headquarters of the Imam's Decree

In November 2018, reports were published about the transfer of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation's shares in telecommunications, one of the IRGC's largest assets, to the Imam's Decree Executive Headquarters, another economic entity under the control of Ali Khamenei; however, 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 IRIB advertisements, which in 2015 led to a conflict between Mohammad Sarafraz, the then head of IRIB, Yas Holding, and the IRIB's Intelligence Organization.

Source: Radio Farda