The Mostazafan Foundation

In late 1978, i.e., before the victory of the Islamic Revolution and afterwards, many members of the Pahlavi dynasty, big capitalists and those affiliated with the Shah’s regime, fled from Iran. They took their wealth out of the country as much as they could, but the part that could not be transferred, such as factories, large agricultural lands, hotels, palaces, etc. were left behind. These assets, which in some cases were so huge – such as the wealth that Ashraf Pahlavi, the Shah’s sister, had amassed and managed to transfer most of it to foreign banks abroad – were obtained through illegal means.

For this reason, Imam Khomeini (ra), seventeen days after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, on February 28, 1979, in a letter, ordered the Council of the Islamic Revolution to confiscate all the properties of the Pahlavi dynasty and its affiliates, which had been embezzled from the treasury, for the benefit of the needy and poor workers and employees. This property was going to be used to build houses, create job opportunities and improve the welfare of the oppressed class. In this way, the Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution was formed by a delegation (Mr. Sayyed Mohammad Hoseyni-Beheshti, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Sayyed Abdolkarim Mousavi-Ardabili, Ahmad Jalali, Ali-Asghar Mousavi and Ezzatollah Sahabi), most of whom were members of the Council of the Islamic Revolution. Imam Khomeini (ra) in 1980, appointed Prime Minister Mohammad-Ali Rajaei as the head of this foundation. One year later, after his martyrdom, Mir-Hoseyn Mousavi, the then Prime Minister, assumed this position. After the end of the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War (1988), which left many wounded, Imam Khomeini (ra) ordered Mir-Hoseyn Mousavi to use the best facilities of the Mostazafan Foundation for serving disabled veterans. Therefore, a large part of the capital of the foundation was spent on the treatment and welfare of disabled veterans.

After the demise of Imam Khomeini (ra), Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Revolution, appointed Mohsen Rafiqdoust as the head of this foundation. Ten years later, in September 1998, Mohammad Forouzandeh assumed responsibility for managing the Mostazafan and Disabled Veterans Foundation. This foundation is a large economic, cultural and therapeutic complex. It also owns factories engaging in the fields of metal, chemical, textile, mining and food industries. The administration of agricultural land and production of livestock, meat, dairy, and protein are other activities of this foundation. The Mostazafan and Disabled Veterans Foundation owns a number of hotels, recreation centres and organizations for tourism, hospitals and specialized treatment centres. According to the statistics published by this foundation, 70% of the income of these centres is used to treat disabled veterans and 30% is used for caring for the disadvantaged and poor people in society. In 1998, this foundation supported 115,000 disabled veterans. In 2004, in order to provide integrated services to the families of martyrs, disabled veterans, and prisoners of war, the section providing services to disabled veterans was separated from the main foundation and handed over to the newly established foundation of Martyrs and Disabled Veterans Affairs.

Reference: The Encyclopedia of the Islamic Revolution