Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution

In the fall of 2009, two of Iran's most powerful entities teamed up to participate in the largest deal in the history of the country's stock exchange.

The partners were the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's elite military unit, and a multi-billion dollar business empire known as Setad that is controlled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Guards and Setad formed a consortium to bid on a controlling stake in Telecommunication Co of Iran, or TCI, which had a near monopoly on landline telephone services. The partners won the stake for $7.8 billion, Iran's largest privatization ever. (Reuters)

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