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Source: http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2003/0721/056.html
Iran's Millionaire Mullahs
(Forbes) - Paul Klebnikov The 1979 revolution expropriated the assets of foreign investors and the nation's wealthiest families, which were then given to Islamic charitable foundations that now serve as slush funds for the mullahs and their supporters. The man most adept at manipulating this hidden power structure is Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who has more or less run the Islamic Republic for the past 24 years. The 1979 revolution transformed the Rafsanjani clan into commercial pashas. One brother headed the country's largest copper mine; another took control of the state-owned TV network; a brother-in-law became governor of Kerman province, while a cousin runs an outfit that dominates Iran's $400 million pistachio export business; a nephew and one of Rafsanjani's sons took key positions in the Ministry of Oil; another son heads the Tehran Metro construction project. Today, the family is also believed to control one of Iran's biggest oil engineering companies, a plant assembling Daewoo automobiles, and Iran's best private airline.