On January 13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated “two organizations, along with their leaders and subsidiaries, controlled by the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO), and Astan Quds Razavi (AQR).”

Although both purported to be charitable organizations (bonyads), Treasury states, “EIKO and AQR control large swaths of the Iranian economy, including assets expropriated from political dissidents and religious minorities, to the benefit of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian government officials. Alongside the previously designated Bonyad Mostazafan, itself controlled by the Supreme Leader, and the IRGC-owned Khatam al-Anbiya, AQR and EIKO are said to control more than half of the Iranian economy.”  The designation targeted EIKO and AQR as well as a number of their affiliates.

These persons are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13876, which targets the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office (SLO), as well as their affiliates.  EIKO was previously designated in November 2018 pursuant to the U.S. re-imposition of Iran-related sanctions resulting from its withdrawal from the JCPOA.