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Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. BMW fleet not
pictured.
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Iran’s continuing progress toward a nuclear bomb should have made it clear to the West that the current sanctions regime simply isn’t going to cut it. When it comes to the nuclear program there are two important decision makers: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. While there has been some progress in targeting the IRGC with sanctions, Khamenei himself has yet to received much attention from the international community.
He certainly warrants such attention. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei controls an substantial portion of the Iranian economy through his various holdings and foundations. The most notable foundations directly controlled by him are Imam Khomeini Foundation, Mostazafan Foundation, Abdolazim Shrine, and Astan Qods. The heads of these foundations are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader and therefore, they do not pay tax, and they cannot be audited by the parliament or by the judiciary system. They operate as personal properties of Khamenei, outside the normal structure of the Iranian state.
An examination of Imam Khomeini Foundation provides insight into the vast size and wealth of the Supreme Leader’s financial empire. Based on a statement by one of its officials, in September 2008, the Foundation owned about $45-billion in real estate assets. Imam Khomeini Foundation owns 36 firms in the Tehran stock exchange, through only one of its many holdings. It also owns the Iran Telecommunication Company, in partnership with the IRGC ,which is itself worth billions of dollars. This foundation is active in many profitable sectors of Iran’s economy, such as telecommunication, oil, gas, food and mining. It also does business outside the country. Last summer, for example, the Tadbir Development Company, which is owned by the Imam Khomeini Foundation, tried to buy French refinery La Petite Couronne.
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