Iran's leadership is using Islamic charities to conceal and control massive economic empires, some of which are connected to sanctioned businesses and a designated terrorist organization, according to a new report.
One bonyad, Astan Quds Razavi, has been unveiled in a report by the American Enterprise Institute, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Iran's shadow economy.
"[T]hese bonyads have long since ceased to be, if they ever were, charitable organizations in any meaningful sense that the West would recognize, or that we would recognize in the United States, and have become, largely, huge holding companies that control vast segments of the Iranian economy," Frederick Kagan, director of AEI's Critical Threats Project, told the Washington Examiner.
The leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolution used bonyads, Farsi for "Foundation," to nationalize private businesses and take control of state-run industries after seizing power in 1979.
Putting companies under a bonyad offered the revolution's leaders the ability to seize control of the economy under the "Veneer" of charitable organizations, according to Kagan.
To illustrate the reach of the Razavi bonyad, the report focuses on one of its subsidiaries, the Quds Razavi Bread Company, which produces various baked goods and cakes common throughout Iran.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone over international waters, the Pentagon said Thursday.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/how-irans-elite-use-islamic-charities-to-control-secret-economic-empires
One bonyad, Astan Quds Razavi, has been unveiled in a report by the American Enterprise Institute, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Iran's shadow economy.
"[T]hese bonyads have long since ceased to be, if they ever were, charitable organizations in any meaningful sense that the West would recognize, or that we would recognize in the United States, and have become, largely, huge holding companies that control vast segments of the Iranian economy," Frederick Kagan, director of AEI's Critical Threats Project, told the Washington Examiner.
The leaders of Iran's Islamic Revolution used bonyads, Farsi for "Foundation," to nationalize private businesses and take control of state-run industries after seizing power in 1979.
Putting companies under a bonyad offered the revolution's leaders the ability to seize control of the economy under the "Veneer" of charitable organizations, according to Kagan.
To illustrate the reach of the Razavi bonyad, the report focuses on one of its subsidiaries, the Quds Razavi Bread Company, which produces various baked goods and cakes common throughout Iran.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone over international waters, the Pentagon said Thursday.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/how-irans-elite-use-islamic-charities-to-control-secret-economic-empires
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