To expand Khamenei’s grip on the economy, Iran stretched its laws

A Reuters investigation into the Iranian supreme leader’s $95 billion economic empire—which was partly built on confiscating family property from ordinary citizens: Several other Iranians whose family properties were taken over by Setad described in interviews how men showed up and threatened to use violence if the owners didn’t leave the premises at once. One man said he had been told how an elderly family member had stood by distraught as workmen carried out all of the furniture from her home. According to this account, she sat down on a carpet, refused to move and pleaded, “What can I do? Where can I go?” “Then they reached down, lifted her up on the carpet and took her out.”