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state-owned telecoms company after allegations one of the buyers was
linked to the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, media reports said
on Saturday. Last month, Etemad Mobin Development, a consortium of
three Iranian firms, purchased 50 percent plus one share in
Telecommunication Company of Iran in the country's biggest
privatisation deal. Since then media reports have surfaced saying one
of the members of the buying consortium belonged to a branch of the
Guards, a move seen contradicting the basic idea of privatisation. "We
have done some studies on... problematic areas (in the deal) and we
will inform about them to the privatisation and bourse
organisations," Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, the head of Iran's Inspection
Organisation, was quoted as saying by Tehran Emrouz newspaper. The
Guards Corps, set up to defend the country from internal and external
threats, has become a major economic force in recent years because of
its controversial and overwhelming presence in the energy, finance
and construction sectors.
