Ambiguous Record of Proposed Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade; Membership in the Board of Directors of at Least 11 Companies During Management of Mapna

The new candidate of Ebrahim Raisi for the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade (IMT) was introduced to the parliament today, while investigations by Voice of America show that he has held membership in the board of directors of at least 11 companies during his management at Mapna Group. In the session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Sunday morning, the letter introducing the proposed minister for the IMT was read, and based on that, Abbas Aliabadi was introduced to the parliament for a vote of confidence. According to a member of the parliament's presiding board, the vote of confidence session for Aliabadi will be held next week, on June 28. Aliabadi, 61, who has previously served as the president of Malek Ashtar University of Technology, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Defense, has been the CEO of Mapna Group since December 2009. The Mapna Group and its affiliated companies are one of Iran's largest industrial conglomerates, constructing large thermal power plants and executing major oil, gas, and railway transport projects in Iran. Meanwhile, parts of the vast Mapna company are on the list of punitive sanctions by the United States and the international community due to the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities and Tehran's risky actions in the region. Investigations by Voice of America show that during his tenure as CEO of Mapna, Aliabadi has also held board memberships or simultaneous chairmanships in at least 11 other institutions and companies, some of which were related to Mapna. At least five of these companies are registered as private joint-stock companies. At least two companies are registered as public joint-stock companies, and four companies are registered as non-commercial entities. The list of companies where Abbas Aliabadi has been active as a board member or chairman in recent years, likely benefiting from them, includes: Private joint-stock companies: since 2011 in Mapna Boiler Engineering and Construction Company, since 2017 in Mapna Oil and Gas Development Company, since 2017 in Mapna Parto Turbine Engineering and Construction Company; since 2017 in Mapna Boiler and Equipment Engineering and Construction Company, and since 2018 in Mapna Toga Turbine Engineering and Construction Company, where he has been a board member and in some of these companies has also simultaneously served as chairman for a period. Public joint-stock companies: since 2016 in the Iranian Power Plant Management Group as chairman and since 2017 in NIR Pars, also as chairman. Non-commercial companies: since 2014 in the Iranian Hydropower Association as chairman, since 2016 in Razavi Economic Company (affiliated with Astan Quds Razavi) as a board member, since 2017 in the Iranian Mechanical Engineers Association as a board member, and since 2018 in the National Jihadi Management Association as a board member. Aliabadi's presence in various companies due to his position raises numerous financial and managerial ambiguities. It is unclear what his salaries and benefits were in these companies, most of which have overlapping timelines. No transparency has been provided in this regard, and the financial documents of these companies are not publicly available. According to the Islamic Republic's commercial law, one of the differences between public and private joint-stock companies is that shares of private joint-stock companies are not tradable on the stock exchange and do not require extensive formalities for establishment, and the capital of these companies is entirely provided by the founders. Ebrahim Raisi has nominated Abbas Aliabadi for a ministry that controls the largest industrial and commercial companies. Abbas Aliabadi was previously the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Islamic Republic in electricity and energy affairs and the president of Malek Ashtar University, affiliated with the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Support of the Iranian government. Reza Fatemi Amin, the former Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of Ebrahim Raisi's government, was impeached on May 10 with 162 votes. The state of the car market in Iran was the main focus of the impeachment discussions, which ultimately led to the dismissal of this cabinet minister. Meanwhile, the Mapna company, which Aliabadi has managed for years, has always held special importance among the leaders of the Islamic Republic, to the extent that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Iranian government, visited it on April 29, 2014, Hassan Rouhani, the former president, on May 2, 2016, and Ebrahim Raisi, the current president, on May 1, 2021. In 2016, the Ministry of Oil introduced eight Iranian companies as 'qualified in the exploration and production' of oil, with Mapna being named alongside Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters (affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Persia Oil and Gas Development Company (affiliated with the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command) as one of these eight 'qualified' companies.