The historic nuclear deal reached between Iran and major world powers has yet to be implemented, but one clear winner has emerged: Iran’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei has yet to publicly back the accord, which lifts some sanctions on Iran in return for limits on its nuclear programme. But he does stand to benefit, thanks to his close control of one of the most powerful and secretive organisations in Iran – “Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam,” or Setad.
The deal, which is likely to go into effect after clearing a major Congressional hurdle last week, lifts US secondary sanctions on Setad and about 40 firms it owns or has a stake in, according to a tally based on annexes to the deal.
The delisting of Setad – which has little connection to Iran’s nuclear programme but is close to Iran’s ruling elite – feeds into US Republicans’ criticism that the deal will empower Iran’s hardliners and help fund its regional ambitions.
Former US officials say Setad was just one of a slew of entities sanctioned because they were considered part of the Iranian government. One former official said Setad was also targeted because the US saw it as close to Khamenei and believed that the sanctions might induce him to back serious nuclear negotiations.
With stakes in nearly every sector of Iran’s economy, Setad built its empire on the systematic seizure of thousands of properties belonging to religious minorities, business people, and Iranians living abroad, which estimated the network’s holdings at about $95bn.
Iranians who said their family properties were seized by Setad described in interviews in 2013 how men showed up and threatened to use violence if the owners didn’t leave the premises at once.
In response to findings in 2013, a Setad spokesman said at the time the information presented was “not correct,” and did not elaborate.
No evidence was that Khamenei is personally enriched by Setad’s assets. But through Setad, Khamenei has access to resources that allow him to bypass rivals and other branches of government.
The entities being delisted represent a significant portion of Setad’s holdings, though dozens of Setad-linked companies were never directly named by the US Treasury and may not have been affected at all by the sanctions.
The nuclear deal, reached in Vienna in July, would remove Setad from Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, enabling the conglomerate to open bank accounts abroad and procure financing for partnerships.
The secondary sanctions have barred foreign banks that wish to operate in the USfrom dealing with Setad. American banks, companies, and individuals will still be barred from dealing with Setad, also called Eiko, under US primary sanctions.
The conglomerate “produces billions of dollars in profits for the Iranian regime each year,” said David Cohen, then the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, at a Senate banking committee hearing in 2013.
A 2013 investigation found that Khamenei exerts exclusive control over Setad’s economic empire. He chooses its executives and oversaw the creation of a body of legal rulings that safeguarded Setad’s asset acquisitions since its inception in 1989.
Setad’s current value and its holdings in the delisted entities could not be determined, because many websites with that data have been taken down since the investigation.
Setad’s holdings has some global reach too. The Setad-linked entities being removed from US secondary sanctions include firms based in South Africa and Germany.