Tepe Akfen Ventures (TAV)

“The armed forces closed down the recently inaugurated Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) on 8th May.  Because of security concerns, the armed forces closed the airport after a commercial airliner landed at the airport.  This was the first aircraft to land at IKIA. The armed forces announced that the decision to entrust the airport’s operation to a foreign company ‘threatens the security of the country as well as its dignity. The airport was built and was expected to be run by Turkish-Austrian consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV). Iran’s two domestic airlines had announced that they would not transfer their operations to the airport.” (Zawya, “New Imam Khomeini Airport Closed after First Flight,” May 2004)

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The Guardian Council, comprising six Islamic clerics and six lay jurists, has in effect become an upper house of parliament. The council can vet all legislation passed by the Majlis and veto any laws that it judges do not comply with Islamic law or Irans constitution. Its influence was most apparent in 2004 and 2005 when it ratified legislation giving the Majlis retroactive veto power over two major foreign investment contracts, those of Turkcell (Turkey) and Tepe-Akfen-Vie (a joint Austrian-Turkish consortium). (Economist Intelligence Units Country Commerce Select, The operating environment: Political conditions, March 19, 2008)