This is especially true for the IRGC, who get a considerable amount of their budget from this plundering, which is used to fund terrorism, warfare, and fill the bank accounts of those at the top. Most corruption is the result of military or government officials using family connections to give their relatives high-paying jobs or contracts. One of these officials is IRGC Major general Ali Shamkhani, who is the secretary of the regime’s Supreme National Security Council and the regime’s State Expediency Discernment Council.

Shamkhani, who started as an IRGC commander during the Iran-Iraq war and rose through the ranks, now uses his position to help his relatives to profit, something readily exposed because of regime infighting over the past few years.

Here are some examples:

  • His eldest son, Hossein, is the director of Admiral Shipping and a graduate of $10,000 per term Lebanese American University
  • Another son, Hassan, is another director at Admiral Shipping
    • This was established by several young Shamkhani relatives in 2011 and is deeply involved in smuggling and illegal transit.
  • Azim Shamkhani, another relative, and just a high school graduate was a deputy mayor in Ahvaz
    • He also held the positions of director of Ahvaz’s beautification organization, deputy of municipal services, and the head of the Municipalities Cooperation Organization
  • Mo’oud Shamkhani, a nephew, is the technical deputy of Arvand Free Zone Organization, allowing him to make money off public works
  • Mohammad Hadi Shamkhani, another nephew, is expert on political affairs in Russia, working at the regime’s embassy there
  • Abdolazim Shamkhani, a stepbrother, was made CEO of the Ahvaz Beautification Organization at age 25 with just a high school diploma before becoming managing director of the Khuzestan Municipalities Cooperation Organization; a position he was fired from for large-scale embezzlement and incompetency
    • He also held the positions of the representative of the Secretary of the Expediency Council in Khuzestan province, Head of Advertising Department of Khuzestan Islamic Development Coordinating Council, and Special Inspector of the General Inspectorate of Khuzestan Governorate.

 

The National Council of Resistance of Iran wrote: “In a nutshell, the IRGC mafia is greedy… Most interestingly, the silence of [Shamkhani], made public opinion more sensitive, and many people realized at the height of the economic and livelihood crisis, how corrupt the regime and the IRGC leaders are. And while poor people are grappling with the coronavirus and poverty, the regime’s officials are continuing their luxury lives by plundering people’s wealth.”

 

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