The Khamenei family, led by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is reported to control substantial wealth and assets, both personally and through affiliated organizations. [1]
Investigations have revealed that Ayatollah Khamenei oversees a financial empire valued at approximately $95 billion. This wealth is primarily managed through the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), also known as Setad. Setad has amassed a vast portfolio by systematically seizing thousands of properties, often under the pretext that they were abandoned. These properties belong to various Iranians, including religious minorities and expatriates. [2] [3]
Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader's second eldest son, is reported to have accumulated wealth exceeding $3 billion. His assets are allegedly distributed across banks in the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Venezuela, and several African countries. Additionally, Mojtaba is said to possess approximately $300 million in gold and diamonds. He has also acquired extensive land near Mashhad, transforming it into personal property. [4] [5] [6]
Masoud, another of Ayatollah Khamenei's sons, manages several of his father's institutions. He reportedly holds over $400 million in banks in France and the UK, with an additional $100 million in Tehran. Masoud also controls the sales of Renault vehicles in Iran, further contributing to his wealth. [4] [5]
Meysam, the youngest son, is married to the daughter of a prominent Iranian bazaar merchant. He partners with his brother Masoud in the Renault enterprise, receiving a commission from each vehicle sold. Meysam's wealth is estimated at over $200 million, with around $10 million allocated for domestic trade. [4] [5]
Beyond personal wealth, the Khamenei family exerts control over significant economic entities:
Mostazafan Foundation was originally established as the Pahlavi Foundation. It was renamed after the Islamic Revolution. The foundation's assets grew substantially post-revolution, encompassing numerous factories, agribusinesses, construction firms, mines, and commercial companies. [7]
Astan Quds Razavi manages the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad and its associated endowments. It holds vast assets, including land, businesses, and industries, contributing significantly to the family's influence. [8]
These organizations, while presented as charitable entities, have been criticized for lacking transparency and allegedly serving the ruling elite's interests. [1] [3] [4]
Bonyads are charitable trusts in Iran that play a major role in Iran's economy. They control an estimated 20% of Iran's GDP, and are second only to the oil industry in manufacturing, trading, and real estate development in Iran. As of 2010, the largest bonyad is the Mostazafan Foundation, worth approximately $10 billion. In addition to large national bonyads like the Mostazafan Foundation, there are numerous bonyads affiliated with local clerics in "almost every" Iranian town. All are answerable only to the Supreme Leader of Iran. As of 2008, bonyads employ somewhere between 400,000 and 5 million Iranians.
Ali Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's 35-year-long rule makes him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East, as well as the second-longest-serving Iranian leader of the last century after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khamenei is a marja', a title given to the highest level of religious cleric in Twelver Shi'ism.
Mashhad is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about 900 kilometres from Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad County, it serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan province, the county, and the district. It has a population of about 3,400,000, which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh.
The Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi is a large library in Mashad, Iran. Established before 1457, it holds over 1.1 million volumes. It is an international center for Islamic research, containing numerous manuscripts and rare works of antiquity of Islamic history.
Abbas Vaez Tabasi was an influential Iranian cleric who held memberships at different institutions. He was Grand Imam and Chairman of the Astan Quds Razavi board from 1979 until his death in 2016.
Astan Quds Razavi is a bonyad based at Mashhad, Iran. It is the administrative organization which manages the Imam Reza shrine and various institutions which belong to the organization.
The Imam Reza shrine, located in Mashhad, Iran, is an Islamic shrine containing the remains of Ali al-Rida, the eighth Imam of Shia Islam. It is the largest mosque in the world by area. Also contained within the complex are the Goharshad Mosque, a museum, a library, four seminaries, a cemetery, the Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, and other buildings.
Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian Shia cleric and son of Ali Khamenei and the possible successor of current Supreme Leader of Iran. He served in the Iran–Iraq War from 1987 to 1988. He also reportedly took control of the Basij militia that was used to suppress the protests over the 2009 election.
The Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), also known as the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Directive or simply Setad, is a parastatal organization in the Islamic Republic of Iran, under direct control of the Supreme Leader of Iran. It was created from thousands of properties confiscated in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A Reuters investigation found that the organization built "its empire on the systematic seizure of thousands of properties belonging to ordinary Iranians", also seizing property from members of religious minorities, business people and Iranians living abroad; at times falsely claiming that the properties were abandoned.
SayyidEbrahim Raisolsadati, better known as Ebrahim Raisi, was an Iranian politician who served as the eighth president of Iran from 2021 until his death in 2024. He was a Muslim jurist and part of the Principlist group.
Mansoureh Khojaste Bagherzadeh is the wife of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran.
The Astan Quds Razavi Museum in Mashhad, which was founded in 1937, is a public museum in Iran. Located in the vicinity of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and Gowharshad Mosque, the AQR Museum has been visited by pilgrims and tourists from Iran and other countries.
Sayyid Javad Khamenei was an Iranian Shia cleric. He was the father of Iran's current supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mashhad, Iran.
Ahmad Marvi is an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric, former general and former police officer who was appointed as the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi by the supreme leader of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Mostafa Hosseini Khamenei is an Iranian Twelver Shia cleric and the oldest son of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Ayatollah Sheikh Hasanali Morvarid was a senior Iranian Shia scholar and teacher.
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