{"id":3736,"date":"2026-08-19T21:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T04:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehranbureau.com\/?p=3736"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T04:02:19","slug":"inside-motallebi-kashanis-macaroni-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resanegar.com\/en\/inside-motallebi-kashanis-macaroni-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Motallebi Kashani\u2019s Macaroni Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How one industrialist teamed up with clerics and the paramilitary to amass wealth<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sifting through the public records of Iran\u2019s political business empires <\/a>often leads us to home in on certain businessmen whose names make frequent appearances in the documents. Some, like IRGC founder Mohsen Rezaei,<\/a> whose name brings up at least 200 business and political connections, are easy to spot. Others, like pasta tycoon Reza Motallebi Kashani, are lesser-known figures whose many business activities are noteworthy because of the people they bring together.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motallebi Kashani\u2019s vast business network includes more than 94 individuals, including a former Revolution Court prosecutor linked to human rights violations, a Tehran city councilman who served as vice president in the late Hashemi Rafsanjani\u2019s administration, and a Friday prayer leader infamous for stating that inadequately covered women cause earthquakes. Focusing on Motallebi Kashani\u2019s connections helps to illuminate the individual interests that keep members of Iran\u2019s political right beholden to religious and defense institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motallebi Kashani, who by one foreign newspaper account served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)<\/a>, is the current owner of a popular pasta brand called Tak Makaron<\/a>. The brand formerly belonged to the Sadeqians, a family with other business interests in the food and textile sectors. Kashani assumed ownership of the company in 2018 under murky circumstances, with no public record of the sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from various types of dry pasta, the brand sells imitations of US breakfast cereals such as Cocoa Puffs and Nabisco Shredded Wheat. Last year, Tak Makaron<\/a> reportedly played a part in creating a pasta shortage<\/a> as part of a price-gouging scheme, according to Eqtesad Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motallebi Kashani has maintained a low profile throughout most of his career, but entered the media spotlight when journalist Yashar Soltani revealed that Motallebi Kashani had gifted a home worth 30 billion toman (about $1.3 million) to Ali Reza Panahian, an Iranian cleric with extensive ties to the ruling elite.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motallebi Kashani\u2019s network consists of charities, religious institutions, and a range of businesses including pasta factories, international traders, engineering firms, and oil and gas companies. Many of the organizations he is involved with put him in direct contact with the higher echelons of the Islamic Republic, including Friday prayer leaders, current and former ministers, MPs and city council members, Quds Force officers, and members of Supreme Leader Khamenei\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Motallebi Kashani was recently appointed a trustee of Astan Quds Razavi<\/a>. This bonyad<\/a> was set up to administer an important shrine in the holy city of Mashhad and is the largest real estate owner and employer in Khorasan Razavi Province. It was recently sanctioned by the US Treasury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is also a member<\/a> of the Welfare Organization\u2019s Popular Donations Central Council along with Habibollah Bourbour<\/a>, a well-connected businessman who bankrolls the election campaigns of Principlist (right-wing) candidates and shapes the conservative political landscape of Iran. Motallebi Kashani\u2019s son links him to various companies in Canada, the UAE, Switzerland, and the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a detailed look at his business and politician connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Complete Network of Reza Motallebi Kashani<\/h3>\n\n\n