IRGC buys Telecommunication Company of Iran

Islamic Revolutionary Guards of Iran logo

A consortium affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps cooperative has bought 51 percent of the shares of Telecommunication Company of Iran. Reportedly this block of shares is priced at 8 billion dollars. This is considered the biggest financial purchase in the history of Iran’s stock exchange.

The Revolutionary Guards have also recently announced the establishment of their own bank in Iran.

The Revolutionary Guards and their off-spring the Basij militia have control of a wide range of companies in the Iranian oil industry, agriculture, infrastructure and technology sector. Their strategic control of telecommunications bodes ill for Iranian media and communications which already function under heavy censorship and restrictions.

The election protests which rocked the capital and other large cities of the country in July were in many ways orchestrated through social networking sites, and the images of the violent government crackdown on peaceful protesters were relayed around the world through cell phone videos.

Blocking cell phone signals and filtering internet sites has become common government practice in recent months especially during mass demonstrations such as last Friday’s protests.

The Revolutionary Guards Corps and its affiliates have large stakes in Iran's economy which has been growing by leaps and bounds since the presidential victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is himself an ex-Revolutionary Guards member.