Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Paying for the revolution

When the Islamic revolution came to Iran, many Iranians left the country. They took a lot of wealth with them, but the emigrants couldn't take property and businesses. Those were seized by the revolutionary government and prominent clerics turned them into "charitable foundations" or bonyads.

Many of the untaxed and unregulated bonyads are huge business conglomerates and still do charitable work. Many of them produce profits that support the government. Most are vital to the Iranian economy. And most line the pockets of the clerics and technocrats who run them.

At least one of them owns property in New York — or used to. Financing the Islamic revolution in Iran with rents from Manhattan.

Iran Denounces US Ruling to Sell Property

Iran has condemned a ruling issued by a U.S. federal judge approving plans to sell a 36-story Manhattan office building and other properties owned by Iran nationwide in what will be the largest terrorism-related forfeiture ever…

Manhattan Building owned by Alavi Foundation

The judge ruled last September that the Manhattan office tower, belonging to the Iran-linked Alavi Foundation, was subject to forfeiture because revenue from it was secretly funneled to a state-owned Iranian bank in violation of a U.S. trade embargo.

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