Public business records reveal a financial connection between longtime top commander of the IRGC and prominent Expediency Council member Mohsen Rezaei, and former Tehran mayor Mohammad Qalibaf\u2014himself a former IRGC commander. The pair have a common relative who is an executive at Shahr Bank, a financial institution owned by Tehran municipality and one of Iran\u2019s top 20 publicly traded banks. (Shahr Bank holds about $500 million in assets, or 0.1 percent of the total market share, according to the 2016 international investments report by Arqaam Capital.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, both Rezaei and Qalibaf presided over the IRGC conglomerate Khatam-al Anbia<\/strong> during their careers. Both men are at the center of political, military and business networks that place family members and close friends in key posts to maintain power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The common relative between Rezaei and Qalibaf is Mehdi Ahmadi. (Rezaei\u2019s daughter Zahra is married to Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Ahmadi, whose sister is married to Qalibaf\u2019s son.) Ahmadi has used his connection to both the Qalibaf and Rezaei families to secure various positions in Shahr Bank and its subsidiaries, according to various news reports.\u00a0 In one such incident, when Qalibaf stepped down as mayor in 2017, Ahmadi was removed from the board of Bank-e Shahr. But this development lasted a very short time. Ahmadi quickly regained the position after a coordinated campaign of intense lobbying<\/a>, according to tweets <\/a>by Iranian journalists. The influential Tabnak news website, which is owned by the Rezaei family, had run a story<\/a> accusing the new team at the Tehran municipality of corruption and \u201cmafia tactics\u201d for trying to replace Ahmadi.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarriages of Convenience<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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