The long business arm of the Iranian state

Further reading

• Iran's pivotal moment • Modern Middle East Bank shows there is no escape from sanctions • Ayandeh's DIY mega-merger sets template for Iranian bank consolidation

These assets and those of his followers were gathered together as a bonyad, or charitable foundation, originally called the Bonyad Mostazafan and now called the Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution. It was to be invested in a range of economic sectors with a proportion of profits set aside “for the miserable people: that’s what Mostazafan means,” says Behzad Golkar, CEO at Sina Financial & Investment, one of the holding companies within the Foundation.

He’s very specific about the word miserable, as opposed to poor: it has a focus on providing for the disabled and oppressed.

It is an enormous enterprise. Golkar says the foundation is made up of 200 individual companies split across 19 holding companies; Sina is just one of those holding companies yet includes a bank, two brokerages, mutual funds, an insurer and a leasing business, with plans to build an investment bank well underway.