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Where does the income of the Foundation for the Oppressed go? It is not clear.

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How much income do they have? It’s not exactly clear.

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How much tax do they pay? They don’t pay.

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What does their annual financial report show us? It is not published.

Questions about one of the largest economic enterprises in the Middle East, which is directly under the supervision of Seyyed Ali Khamenei; with annual profits that are not transparent, but the head of this enterprise has stated it to be 26 trillion tomans in his latest statement. It is not clear where these profits are spent and no taxes are paid for them. It holds more than two percent of the country’s gross domestic product and is said to be the largest and most profitable Iranian holding after the National Iranian Oil Company (1). They only published their financial statements for fifteen years on their website once in 1396 (2017-2018), which were even doubted by their auditors. According to those financial statements, the nominal assets of the Foundation of the Oppressed of the Islamic Revolution were declared to be more than 56 trillion tomans (approximately 14 billion dollars), but the actual value of the foundation is estimated to be much larger than these numbers. It is

The circles of corruption and parallel activities of this institution, from Irancell to Plasco building, to Tehran-North freeway, to the 16-story apartment in the “Alavi” tower on 52nd Street in New York, to Sina Bank, Behran Oil Company, and others, make the investigation of its subordinate organizations in the shadow very complicated. Institution within institution, organization within organization, and circles with unknown beginnings and ends, all under the ownership of one of the wealthiest government entities. They are accountable to no one and nowhere, except for one person: the leader of the Islamic Republic.

The latest news from them is related to Deymah 1400: The economic deputy of the foundation has announced the export of five hundred and ninety-three million dollars from the foundation group for the country in the first eight months of 1400. Seyyed Mohammad Atabak said, “Despite the spread of coronavirus on one hand and the power outage of industries on the other hand, the productivity rate in the foundation group has increased by 7.2%.”

What do we know about the history of this organization?

“This asset is from the spoils of Islam and belongs to the nation and the oppressed. I have commanded that it be given to the oppressed and they will be given.” (2) With this order, Ayatollah Khomeini confiscated the assets of the Pahlavi dynasty, some factory owners, merchants, and all those whose assets had been ordered to be returned by the Revolutionary Court, to be used for the establishment of this new foundation. By “asset”, Khomeini meant the movable and immovable properties of the “Pahlavi Foundation”, and by “commanded”, he meant that he had ordered the “Islamic Revolutionary Council” to do so. At that time, it was announced that the value of these assets would be determined after being inventoried and evaluated. However, after 42 years, this has still not been transparently revealed. It is impossible to estimate the exact amount of this capital, but the assets of the foundation are worth at least 56 trillion tom

Dependency spiral.

The foundation has been able to create complex networks of administrative and political relationships with organizations, official institutions, and even influential individuals over the past four decades. The financial statements of the foundation clearly show that this holding has created a web of financial dependencies with government, private, and public companies, as well as well-known political figures; a network that allows the foundation to manipulate equations in its favor without anyone noticing and have a hand in decision-making. They can easily assist the Revolutionary Guards in fulfilling their role in Iraq, Syria, and domestic protests, bypass sanctions, and further tighten the grip of the Khamenei regime.

Length and width of the foundation.

Valued assets (1395):

56 trillion tomans.

Income from the sale of goods and services (1395).

28 thousand and 350 billion tomans (approximately 7 billion dollars).

Net profit of foundation (1395):

Two trillion and seven hundred billion tomans (more than seven hundred million dollars).

Accumulated profits of the years (1395):

13 trillion and 800 billion tomans (close to 3.5 billion dollars).

Total income (1398):

36 trillion tomans.

Gross profit before tax deduction (1398):

Seven trillion tomans.

Net profit ratio to shareholders after tax deduction.

Sixty to forty.

Foundation’s share of net profit after tax (1398):

Three trillion and six hundred billion tomans.

Foundation tax (1398):

One trillion tomans.

High numbers are a combination of published financial statements until 1395 and the controversial television interview of Parviz Fattah, the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed (4). In the midst of this, Yahya Alashegh, a member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Oppressed, had stated in an opinion that “four percent of Iran’s gross domestic product belongs to the foundation.” Although he did not provide further explanation about his calculations, according to reports from the Iranian Statistical Center, the volume of Iran’s gross domestic product in 1398 was over 3,416 trillion tomans at the current price; In other words, in 1398, more than 68,000 trillion tomans of Iran’s economy, according to the estimates of the members of the board of trustees of the Foundation for the Oppressed of the Islamic Revolution, was under the control of this foundation.

Foundation rings.

The foundation is a conglomerate; an institution that had taken over nearly 800 companies before they were privatized and now, with 169 companies, is one of the wealthiest conglomerates in the Middle East. All of those 800 companies were state-owned properties. After privatization and transfer of properties to the private sector, the number of these companies decreased to 400 in 1999, although not all of them were transferred.

There are hundreds of small and large companies under the umbrella of the mother company. Some of the most well-known ones are subsidiaries of the “Sina” group.

a) Sina Parent Company.

Sina Bank.

Sina Insurance.

Sina Exchange.

“Bourse Brokerage Agency”

b) Sina Energygister Company.

North Drilling Company.

Bahrān Oil Company.

“Lightning and Energy of the Morning Breeze.”

“Peybandan Company.”

Coal tar.

“Leading Iran.”

C) Sina Food Company.

Goshtiran.

Meatland.

Pakdis.

Cleanliness.

Zamzam.

Pure Dairy Products

For example, (d) Parsian Tourist Company and Recreational Centers.

Tochal Cable Car.

Eram Park.

Parsian Hotels.

Chamran Collection.

Iranian Club Dubai.

Add all of these to:

Alavi Foundation

Shazand Sugar Factory.

Behran Oil Company

Qods Hospital.

North Tehran Freeway Company

Another aspect of this foundation is its assets, which include…

From paying to the Sepah to military operations in villages.

The foundation has been facing major controversies and conflicts since the emergence of Fatah.

a) Fatemiyoun Payment: Parviz Fattah, the head of the Foundation for the Oppressed, revealed in television interviews that this foundation pays the salaries of some forces affiliated with the Quds Force. He said, “I was in the Sepah Cooperation Foundation. Hajj Qasem came and told me that I should not pay the salaries of Fatemiyoun, and that I should help in Syria… These are our Afghan brothers and they are in need of people like us.” (5).

The Fatemiyoun Brigade is a semi-military force made up of Shia Afghans. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims that this brigade is composed of “volunteers” from Afghanistan, whom they have mobilized to be sent to Syria and fight alongside Bashar al-Assad’s forces against his opponents. However, there is evidence that many of these individuals have not joined this brigade voluntarily and have been forced to go to war.

B) Military invasion of “Abolfazl” village: In September 2020, the Foundation for the Oppressed claimed ownership of the lands of “Abolfazl” village in Khuzestan province without presenting any evidence and forced 300 families out of the village using weapons. The village was located between Zardasht town and Kianushahr defense in Ahvaz. The Friday prayer leader of the village had said: “The Foundation has issued orders to bring the villagers.”

Although a film about shooting and tear gas was released from this village, the law enforcement forces and the governorate denied these shootings. After that, in September 2020, it was announced that 130 people were summoned and arrest warrants were issued for some of them in relation to the incident in this village.

J) Disclosure of the Foundation of the Oppressed’s Assets by Government and Military Entities: A year after coming to power, Fattah announced the names of some government and military entities who, according to him, have seized billions of tomans from “public properties” and are not willing to vacate them. However, with the support of the leader of Iran, he intends to reclaim these properties. Among them are the names of Sepah and the 200 billion tomans property of Jamareh, Marble Palace and the Expediency Discernment Council, the 8,000 square meter land of Heravi and Haddad Adel, the building and property of the Center for Women’s Studies and Masoumeh Ebtakar and Shahindokht Moulaverdi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and “his friends”, Seyyed Mohammad Khatami and the property of Baran Foundation, the army and the property of the Kuhak region in Tehran

Positive financial record or creating widespread dependence?

But has it focused more on its financial profitability or on involving and affiliating organizations? If we assume the accuracy of the statistics and figures published in the old financial statements or Parviz Fattah’s statements, it can be seen that the financial performance of the Foundation for the Oppressed in the past years has been disappointing for a large economic foundation. The total income and profits of the foundation have had less than a 1% increase in the past three years, while the three-year inflation rate (based on statistics from the Statistical Center) has been over 85%. Based on this, it can be said that the economic performance of the foundation in those three years has been unsuccessful and its profits have decreased by about 1% in real terms. This is while, according to reports from the Statistical Center of Iran, the total volume of economic recession in the country in 1398 was about 7% less than in 1395. Statistics show that we must accept that the volume of

Notes:

1- Kalbenikov, Paul, Millionaire Clerics: Who Controls Iran Today?, Forbes, July 7, 2003.

2- Rajaei, Gholamali, Imam according to Imam’s narration, Tehran: Arvaj Publishing (affiliated with the Institute for the Compilation and Publication of Imam’s Works), 1387 (second chapter, p. 110).

3- Azarmi, Arash, Bonyad-e Mostazafan from the beginning until now, BBC Persian, 29 Azar 1396.

4- The financial statement of the Benevolent Foundation has been available since 1380 (2001), IRNA, 30 November 2017.

5- Controversy over payment of salaries to Iranian proxy forces in Syria, Deutsche Welle, April 6, 2020.

6- Details of the attack by authorities on the people of Abolfazl village in Ahvaz, with a complaint from the Foundation of the Oppressed, Aftab News, 6 Shahrivar 1399.

7- Bonyad-e Mostazafan: We do not participate in the seizure of properties from enemy armed forces, Deutsche Welle, August 9, 2020.