A photo that became a symbol of the misery of millions of Iranians, and brought millions of dollars to one individual

One of the most iconic images of the 1979 revolution depicts the structural solidity of a building constructed during the Pahlavi era, with massive crowds of people packed onto its different levels. Yet despite the weight of so many human beings, the building did not bend or show the slightest sign of strain.

Yet a grim-faced man stands in a privileged corner of this photograph, a man who appears to have been caught directly by the camera. That very image became the staircase of his ascent: from an ordinary figure to one of Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guards, taking part in arrests and crimes against the people, climbing two steps at a time up the ladder of power in the newly born criminal system known as the Islamic Republic.

His rise continued until, by decree of Mir-Hossein Mousavi (then Prime Minister), in May 1986, he was appointed, under the title ‘Mostafa Sepahsalar’, as Chairman of the Board of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company, one of the country’s largest strategic industries at the time.

A table overflowing with bread and wealth, from which he siphoned off the first major fortunes of his life.

During the days of the 1979 revolution, Mostafa Sepahsalar had nothing to his name. But now, on the eve of the 1965 uprising, he owns so many houses, companies, properties, and assets that, amid the current turmoil, he does not even know how to sell them quickly and at low prices.

A man who has already lived through one revolution and knows what an enraged population is capable of, who himself was revolutionary to the core, directly involved in confiscations, extortion, arrests, and disappearances.

These days, he is rapidly selling off homes and assets registered in his own name, as well as in the names of his wife and relatives (Jamileh Veisi-Zadeh, Marjan Veisi-Zadeh), hoping to quietly and discreetly leave the country.

For decades before and after this famous photograph was taken and circulated, he never appeared in front of any camera. Even when receiving positions, privileges, and rewards from ministers and officials of the clerical regime, he deliberately avoided cameras, fearing that his identity might be exposed.

Rent-seeking private companies fed by the spoils of the revolution

Mostafa Sepahsalar, former IRGC member and revolutionary committee enforcer, now a businessman and capitalist, alongside holding senior government positions in the country’s key industries, has owned, chaired, and invested in several large private companies. All of them have benefited from massive state and security-related patronage, siphoning wealth while bleeding the Iranian people dry.

Mostafa Sepahsalar, with national ID 0042259541, son of Mahmoud and born in Tehran, has over several decades registered multiple companies or held major partnerships in them under titles such as Chairman of the Board. All of these companies have benefited from exclusive, 100% security-sector patronage. They are complex networks of firms linked to the security institutions of the Islamic Republic.

Energy and Refining Kherad
Sharif Nad Lengeh
Saman Kharid Ava
Sara Kherad Nad
Nourin Nad Sokhan
Energy and Environment Sokhan
Biotechnology Sokhan
Saman Tamin Rastak…

Mostafa Sepahsalari, who holds a master’s degree like all other security officials and is also addressed as “doctor” like other veteran security forces, has found his livelihood in economic activity and has made such significant progress in this regard that in addition to companies, he also owns several houses on Fereshteh Street in Tehran.