Established in September 2019, this charity describes itself as a “non-political, not-for-profit, and non-governmental institute” that is focused on “healthcare.” The company’s board of directors consists of Yaser Hashemi, Maryam Salari, Leili Hashemi (daughter of Yaser Hashemi), Mahmoud Salari (father-in-law of Yaser Hashemi), and Massoud Khalili.
The first director of Bonyad Mostazafan and one of the founding members of the Islamic Coalition Party, which played a vital role in the victory of the Revolution in Iran.
This charity, which is audited by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s accounting firm, Mofid Rahbar, was founded to “meet the financial needs of seminaries particularly in underprivileged areas, taking care of impoverished clerics,” “establishing educational centers,” “creating research centers and libraries,” “opening and managing sports arenas and gyms,” and “any and all trade activities including import-export” among other things. Its founding members include Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani and Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Ghayouri, as well as Ala Mir-Mohammad Sadeqi, Mohsen Rafiqdoust, and Seyyed Ali Naqi Khamoushi, who are all current board members.
A former Evin Prison warden linked to the torture of prisoners after the 1979 Revolution and the deputy secretary general of the Islamic Coalition Party.
One of Nour Foundation’s founding members and former trustees who was also the founder of the Islamic Revolution Committees of Shahr-e Rey; the Friday prayer leader and Supreme Leader’s representative in Rey; one of the founding members of the Islamic Economy Organization (IEO), which encompasses 1,200 lending funds and credit institutions; a trustee of the Abdol Azim Shrine; and the custodian of the Ibn Babawayh Shrine. Ghayouri was also one of the founders of Baqiyat Salehat Charity and the Almahdi Bonyad, which operates in Africa.
The Rafiqdoust clan’s main bonyad, in which several family members hold executive positions. Mohsen Rafiqdoust, the CEO and board chairman, founded it in March 1994. His sons Amir Hossein (vice chairman), Yasser (board member), and Saeed (trustee) are also involved with the foundation.
Shams Nouraei serves as Mahan’s head of “herasat” (Intelligence Ministry branches established in every civilian organization and university in the country, tasked with identifying potential security threats. Herasat officials reportedly surveil employees, act as informants, and influence hiring and firing practices). Shams Nouraei was appointed as the new head of the Mahan Air Herasat at the beginning of the pandemic after some Mahan flight crew went to the press about being forced to travel to China during the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. It is widely believed that the airline trips to China and lax quarantine measures led to the spread of the virus among Mahan employees and their families. As his first order of business, Shams Nouraei added a confidentiality clause to the contracts of all Mahan employees to prevent them from talking to the press. Shams Nouraei is also a member of the board of Omran Mehr Shahdad, which is an MMC subsidiary. Omran Mehr Shahdad is another multipurpose company that trains pilots, buys and sells airplanes, helicopters, and gliders, staffs airports, and rents airplanes in addition to being involved in unrelated activities such as “agriculture, production, trade, import-export, tourism, livestock, construction and road and runway construction.” He is also the board chairman of Botia-Mahan Aviation College and the CEO of Malak Avin Investment, which states its business fields as “any and all permissible trade activities, import-export, investment in other companies through partnership, acquisition or stocks, participation in economic domestic and international projects . . . customs services, management consulting . . . and attracting foreign investment.” Mahan CFO Reza Namakshenas is the board chairman of Malak Avin Investment.
Namakshenas is the CFO of Mahan Air the founder and a board member of several Mahan Air subsidiaries. He has shared business interests with the Arabnejad Khanouki family.
Arjomandi is the inspector for various Mola al-Movahedin Charity (MMC) subsidiaries including Omran Alavi Kerman Development Group. He was the CEO of Sarcheshmeh Copper Investment Co. until November 2020. He was the vice chairman of Arman Catering, which provides inflight meals for both Mahan Air and Aseman Air, which is a subsidiary of the National Retirement Fund. He continues to have extensive ties to Sarcheshmeh Copper Investment’s many subsidiaries.
Yousofzadeh is the alternate inspector for Mola al-Movahedin Charity and an academic and writer whose 2015 book, Those 23, about his time as a POW in Iraq was publicly praised by Qassem Soleimani in an open letter implying he had had personal contact with Yousofzadeh. He is one of the founding members of the Development and Liberation of Kerman Province Party (DLKP). Yousofzadeh is the director of cultural affairs at Kerman’s Shahid Bahonar University and was managing editor of Roudbar Zamin newspaper, which recently went out of business.