The Transfer of Telecommunications to a Company Affiliated with the IRGC Has Been Annulled

The head of Iran's Privatization Organization announced that the contract for the transfer of 51% of telecommunications shares to the company Etimad Mobin, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was annulled 12 days ago after seven years due to the non-payment of 1 trillion tomans of contract installments. Ali Ashraf Abdollah Pouri Hosseini said in an interview with Fars News Agency on Tuesday, December 23, that five or six checks from Etimad Mobin totaling 1 trillion tomans, related to two or three installments of this contract, were returned. According to Pouri Hosseini, due to the buyer's failure to fulfill obligations and "declaring inability to pay installments," the Privatization Organization had no choice but to annul the contract. He mentioned that regarding the possibility of Etimad Mobin reacquiring 51% of the telecommunications shares, these shares must be revalued and offered on the stock exchange. The head of the Privatization Organization also stated that Etimad Mobin could continue its ownership of these shares if it pays the installments, but it must refer to the arbitration board for this matter. On October 5, 2009, during the largest transaction in the history of the Iranian stock market, 50% plus one share of Iran Telecommunications Company was transferred to the consortium "Etimad Mobin," which includes the IRGC's Cooperative Foundation and one of the companies under the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command. Moments before the start of the telecommunications stock transaction, the cooperative company Pishgaman Kavir Yazd, which was a primary applicant for purchasing these shares, suddenly withdrew, and some websites reported that the reason for this withdrawal was pressure exerted on it. The Parliament also confirmed in a report the security forces' actions to eliminate the rival company of the Etimad Mobin consortium, emphasizing that the auction held in this regard was "formal" and "completely uncompetitive." In recent years, the IRGC and the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command have established companies in many economic sectors. Economic experts describe the presence of security, military, and law enforcement institutions, as well as other entities affiliated with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, in Iran's economy as one of the serious problems hindering economic development, the presence of a genuine private sector, and attracting investment in the country. In response, Ramadan Sharif, the IRGC spokesman, said on Tuesday, December 1, in reaction to protests against the economic activities of this institution that "a bunch of crooked people" operate in the country's contracting sector. Many construction and infrastructure projects in various fields such as energy, telecommunications, transportation, and dam construction have been awarded to the IRGC's Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters in recent years with government approval and without formal bidding procedures. Meanwhile, the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters has been striving in recent months to acquire several new large contracts in the oil and shipbuilding sectors and has criticized the government for not awarding these contracts to this institution. Abdollah Abdollahi, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, criticized the non-awarding of a contract for 10 ships to this institution and its awarding to the South Korean Hyundai company on Tuesday, December 22, during a meeting of this institution's managers in the presence of Es'hagh Jahangiri, the First Vice President. The First Vice President of Iran responded to this criticism, stating that this contract was signed in 2008, and 25% of the contract amount had been paid, but due to sanctions, it was not possible to pay the subsequent installments, and the Korean company had halted work and sued Iran in court. Previously, some government officials had announced that the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters had not delivered some of its previous projects after the deadline. For instance, Akbar Turkan, the secretary of the Free Zones Coordination Council of Iran, criticized the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters in September 2014 for "not attracting" foreign financing for the Persian Gulf Bridge project on Qeshm Island, stating that "the government cannot exert pressure on the Khatam Headquarters." According to him, this project, which was supposed to be operational by 2013, had only 3% physical progress at the time of delivery to the new government.