Mojtaba Zonnur, Iranian MP, says that the Iranian government owes 30000 billion Tomans (roughly 800 million USD) to the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarter. He adds that even though this number equals a tenth of the annual national budget, Basij forces [the IRGC affiliated semi-militias] have not stopped supporting the government.

Meanwhile, Saeed Mohammad has been appointed as the new head of the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarter. Previously, Mohammad owned several shopping centers in different cities throughout Iran, including Atlas Mall in Tehran. He served as the CEO of Sepasad Group, a beneficiary of Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarter, between 2007 and 2014.

During his presidential campaign, Hasan Rouhani criticized IRGC on numerous occasions for its engagement in financial and economic activities. However, he rarely repeated the same criticism in the last year.

Rouhani went as far as calling IRGC “A state with a gun” and warned that the private sector would not dare to compete with them.

Jaffari, the head of IRGC, told at the time in response to Rouhani that “the state without guns would be humiliated and would have to surrender eventually”. He added that the Iranian nation needs “power through guns and missiles” more than any other time.

Critics have pointed out that the economic activities by IRGC are intertwined with Influence peddling, and they prevent the private sector from playing a role in the economy.