Mazda – $2.4 billion
Mazda has been operating in Iran at least since 1972. The Bahman Group assembles Mazda cars for the company. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation, a large investment fund closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), owns a 45 percent share of the Bahman Group, according to Iranian newspaper reports. (Among the links between the Sepah Cooperative Foundation and the IRGC: the general manager of the the Sepah Cooperative until this fall was IRGC commander Ahmad Vahid-Dastjerdi. Another notable head of the Sepah Cooperative Foundation was Mohsen Rafiqdoost, who helped found the IRGC. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation’s stake in the Bahman Group has also been reported by Rand Corporation, in a 2009 report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the think tanks the Washington Institute, and the Council on Foreign Relations reports.) Mazda spokesman spokesman Chris Keeffe said that his company’s business in Iran complies with all Japanese and international laws. Mr. Keefe said he was not aware of the reports linking the Iranian Revolutionary Gaurd to the Bahman Group and threfore could not comment. Contracts for Mazda and Ford Motor Company, which owned one-third of Mazda until 2008 and remains one of its largest shareholders, include selling trucks and cars to the United States military.
Isuzu- $1.9 Millions
Isuzu uses the Bahman Group as its distributor in Iran, according to Isuzu’s Web site. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation, a large investment fund closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), owns a 45 percent share of the Bahman Group, according to Iranian newspaper reports. (Among the links between the Sepah Cooperative Foundation and the IRGC: the general manager of the the Sepah Cooperative until this fall was IRGC commander Ahmad Vahid-Dastjerdi. Another former notable head of the Sepah Cooperative Foundation was Mohsen Rafiqdoost, who helped found the IRGC. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation’s stake in the Bahman Group has also been reported by Rand Corporation, in a 2009 report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the think tanks the Washington Institute, and the Council on Foreign Relations reports.) Isuzu spokesman Kouichi Itou said in a statement that the company was not aware of those links and believed that a ‘Retirement Insurance Organization’ was a 45 percent shareholder in Bahman.
Source » nytimes