Companies Controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei Win from JCPOA

Ghadir Investment Company has signed an investment agreement with the Russian company Zarubezhneft and the Turkish company Unit International. According to Shana, the news agency of the Iranian Ministry of Oil, under this agreement signed on Monday in Moscow, the three companies are set to jointly invest in oil and gas projects both inside and outside Iran. Shana noted that the investment share of all three companies will be equal, but Ghadir will lead the formed consortium. This news is significant as it marks the first time that an Iranian company has successfully signed a tripartite partnership and investment agreement with two foreign companies. It is reported that Ghadir Investment Company is under the control of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic. The signing of the investment agreement by Ghadir with a Russian and a Turkish company indicates that institutions controlled by Iran's leader are benefiting well from the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and global powers and the lifting of sanctions. The Iranian Ministry of Oil had entrusted Ghadir with the study of developing several oil fields in Farvardin 96 (April 2017). Ghadir Investment Company was established in 1991 by Bank Saderat. In 1995, it became a public joint-stock company and its shares were offered on the Tehran Stock Exchange. A few years later, the Social Security Organization of Armed Forces purchased a majority of Ghadir's shares and took control of it. Currently, Ghadir, owning seven holding companies and 140 affiliated companies, is one of the largest investment companies in Iran, active in many economic sectors including oil, gas, petrochemicals, construction, and mining. There is no doubt that a genuinely private company in Iran cannot obtain permission to operate in large oil and gas projects, and only companies controlled by governmental institutions and individuals have such capabilities. In 2013, the U.S. Treasury designated Ghadir as one of the companies affiliated with the 'Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini's Order.' According to Reuters, the value of the assets of this headquarters, dubbed a 'financial empire,' was $95 billion in 2013. According to some reports, Ghadir Investment Company, with around $2 billion in capital, is one of the ten largest Iranian companies that hold one-third of the shares of the Tehran Stock Exchange. In 2013, the U.S. Treasury placed the 'Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini's Order' along with Ghadir and dozens of other Iranian companies on its sanctions list, stating: 'The goal of this network is to produce and control a massive amount of capital that is kept outside of official financial documents and out of sight of the Iranian people and international financial oversight institutions.' Gholamreza Soleimani, the CEO of Ghadir and a former manager of the Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini's Order, is among those observers who believe that the U.S. sanctioned the Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini's Order and its affiliated institutions not for their involvement in Iran's nuclear program but to pressure Ayatollah Khamenei to abandon his nuclear ambitions. Although there is no public document proving the connection between Ghadir Investment Company and the leader of the Islamic Republic, looking at the names and backgrounds of the senior officials of this company provides some insight into its real identity. Gholamreza Soleimani, the CEO of Ghadir, held the position of Deputy Planning of the Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini's Order for five years, which is directly controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei. Mahmoud Ahmadpour Daryani, the Chairman of Ghadir's Board, has also been a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for decades, including in the IRGC's intelligence sector. Following the signing of the JCPOA, the U.S. lifted sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program that targeted non-American companies. According to U.S. laws, American citizens and companies are still prohibited from cooperating with Iran, but the lifting of nuclear sanctions has opened the way for non-American companies to collaborate with Iran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei takes every opportunity to criticize the JCPOA, but it seems that the companies under his control, including Ghadir, are well positioned to benefit from the fruits of this agreement. Ghadir signed a €500 million contract with the engineering unit of the Italian company Finmeccanica for the construction of a power plant just weeks after the nuclear agreement. Gholamreza Soleimani, the CEO of Ghadir, even announced last November efforts to enter the London Stock Exchange by the end of 2016, a promise that has yet to be realized.