{"id":328538,"date":"2025-02-11T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T07:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=328538"},"modified":"2025-02-11T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T07:56:00","slug":"iran-news-khamenei-linked-kayhan-institute-defies-court-order-to-return-national-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/iran-news-khamenei-linked-kayhan-institute-defies-court-order-to-return-national-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran News: Khamenei-Linked Kayhan Institute Defies Court Order to Return National Lands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo of Kayhan Editor-in-Chief Hossein Shariatmadari alongside a map of the disputed land and the court document<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A state-affiliated reporter has recently brought attention to a major land-grabbing case involving the Kayhan Institute, an influential media organization directly overseen by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The allegations, which state-controlled media have also covered<\/a>, raise speculation about either an intensifying factional feud within the regime or a broader security-driven agenda at play.<\/p>\n

The Kayhan Institute is at the center of a land dispute over 200 hectares (2 million square meters) of national land in Damavand. Despite a 2006 court ruling that deemed its ownership illegal, the institute has ignored legal mandates for nearly two decades, raising serious questions about judicial accountability and institutional corruption within the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

The land dispute dates back to 1996 when the final year of Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani\u2019s presidency saw the approval of a massive land transfer to Kayhan Institute under the pretext of “afforestation and animal husbandry.” However, internal records show that no substantial agricultural or environmental projects were ever carried out. Instead, the land was gradually turned into a restricted private estate, shielded from oversight.<\/p>\n

In 2003, amid growing concerns over land misallocations, the regime’s Parliament passed an amendment to the Forest and Rangeland Protection Law<\/a>, stating that all unauthorized land transfers since 1986 should be revoked if they failed to meet developmental goals. This triggered a legal review of multiple land deals, including Kayhan\u2019s. The Ministry of Agriculture formally challenged the institute\u2019s ownership and took the case to court.<\/p>\n

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Kazem Sedighi, A Khamenei Ally, Exposed to Have Grabbed Billions Worth of Land in #Iran<\/a>'s Capitalhttps:\/\/t.co\/CmbzjfHMsP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cze9r5g7rI<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n