UANI Top 10 Iran Sanctions Targets (February 2024)

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Masoud Khamenei, Son of Iran’s Supreme Leader

Masoud Khamenei is a son of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to public reporting, Masoud had significant wealth in overseas banks and, at one point, held a monopoly in selling products for the French car company Renault in Iran. U.S. and European authorities should sanction Masoud Khamenei, alongside his brother Mojtaba, under Magnitsky Act authorities, targeting corruption and human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is the speaker of Iran’s parliament and an IRGC commander. Ghalibaf has been implicated in significant corruption scandals – including embezzlement during the time he served as mayor of Tehran – and gross human rights violations, such as obtaining the permit to shoot at unarmed student protestors in 1999. Before becoming speaker of parliament and earlier mayor of Tehran, Ghalibaf was head of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Air Force, and commander of the IRGC’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, which are all sanctioned institutions. U.S. and European authorities should sanction Ghalibaf under the Magnitsky Act authorities, targeting corruption and human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic.

Eshagh Ghalibaf, Son of Iran’s Speaker of Parliament

Eshagh Ghalibaf, the son of the speaker of the Iranian parliament and IRGC commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has recently been caught in a corruption scandal that has exposed he has hundreds of thousands of dollars in Iranian and Western banks, including National Australia Bank (NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Bank. In 2017, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was running for president, claimed Eshagh, his only dependent at the time, had a total of $250 in four savings banks. However, documents filed for immigration to Canada in 2018 reveal Eshagh – whose living expenses were covered by his father at the time – was able to increase his savings by 600 times in just a year. These documents also reveal Eshagh purchased and rented two apartment units in Australia in the same time period. Eshagh’s father, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has earned the title of the “IRGC’s most corrupt commander,” has been in successive corruption scandals involving millions of dollars, relating to embezzlement and money laundering. Despite the clear incriminating evidence relating to Eshagh’s assets abroad and his inseparable affiliation with the regime, he is yet to be sanctioned. Alongside his father, the U.S. government and its allies should impose Magnitsky Act sanctions on Eshagh Ghalibaf, targeting corruption and human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic.

Saeed Ghasemi, IRGC Plain Clothes Senior Commander

Saeed Ghasemi is a senior commander of the IRGC’s plain clothes unit (lebas shakhsees), which is responsible for gross human rights violations. Ghasemi has played a leading role in commanding the violent suppression of Iranian civilians in successive protests, including the 1999 student protests, the 2009 Green Movement, and the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests – something he has personally confirmed. As a senior member of the IRGC’s Quds Force, he helped train Al-Qaeda terrorists in Europe during the Bosnian War. He is a member of the so-called “Habib Circle” – one of the regime’s highest informal security-intelligence networks – which has committed human rights violations and is involved in terrorist activities. He is simultaneously a leading IRGC recruiter and indoctrinator. Evidence obtained and exposed by UANI revealed that Ghasemi engaged in radicalization activities in the United Kingdom and across Europe.

Hossein Yekta, IRGC Plain Clothes Senior Commander

Yekta is a senior commander of the IRGC’s plain clothes unit and operates as a key IRGC recruiter and indoctrinator. He has played a critical role in commanding and training the regime’s suppressive machinery, including during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. Yekta has overseen the regime’s money laundering activities to finance the IRGC’s activities: from supporting terrorist groups abroad to suppression in Iran. He is a member of the so-called “Habib Circle,” the highest informal security-intelligence network that Mojtaba Khamenei heads. Yekta is also a key IRGC recruiter and indoctrinator, having headed numerous entities and initiatives designed for this purpose, including Khatam al-Owsieh Cultural Headquarters, Rahian Noor, and the Ammar Cultural Headquarters. Evidence obtained and exposed by UANI revealed that Yekta engaged in radicalization activities in the United Kingdom.

Seyyed Abdolhassan Navab, President of the University of Religions and Denominations (URD) and Senior IRGC Member

Navab serves as the president of URD, which, as UANI’s investigation revealed, is extensively affiliated with the IRGC and Hezbollah. Navab has held multiple senior roles in the IRGC. This includes holding the position of “Representative of the Supreme Leader for Logistics in the IRGC” and “Head of Affairs for the Clergy in the IRGC.” Navab has also served as one of the heads of the IRGC’s Ideological-Political Organization (“IRGC IPO”). The IRGC’s IPO oversees the official program of indoctrination in the IRGC, which is designed to radicalize all IRGC members and their families in a violent, Islamist extremist and antisemitic ideology. In his official capacity as URD president, Navab remains in constant communication and contact with the most senior levels of the IRGC, IRGC Quds Force, and Hezbollah – all of which are subject to terrorism sanctions. Despite his affiliation with the IRGC and its Quds Force, Navab frequently travels to and from Europe.

Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, Member of the Guardian Council and Head of the Board of Trustees of Al Mustafa International University

Arafi is affiliated with the IRGC and has close ties with Hezbollah and its terror chief, Hassan Nasrallah. As part of the multiple senior positions he has held at Al Mustafa University, including serving as its head, Arafi has played an instrumental role in the recruitment and radicalization of foreign students for IRGC Quds Force’s militias and cells. Al Mustafa University was sanctioned by the United States in 2020 for this reason. He is also a founding board member of the IRGC and Hezbollah-affiliated University of Religions and Denominations. Despite his ties to the IRGC and Hezbollah, Arafi regularly travels to and from Europe. This includes a trip to Germany in 2022, where he delivered a speech at the Iranian regime-affiliated Islamic Center of Hamburg, which was declared as an “extremist Islamic organization” by the German Federal Administrative Court in 2023. In his role as a member of the Guardian Council, Arafi has also played a direct role in election engineering and subversion in the Islamic Republic.

Hossein Shamkhani, CEO of Admiral Group Shipping Company

Hossein Shamkhani, the son of IRGC commander Ali Shamkhani who is a former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), is the CEO of Admiral Group Shipping Company. Recent evidence has exposed Shamkhani as a leading figure in the Islamic Republic’s efforts to evade oil and gas sanctions, which provide a critical source of funding for the IRGC and its terrorist activities. Admiral Group Shipping Company is involved in illicit oil, gas, and petrochemical sales. Reports have indicated that the SNSC’s Committee for Resisting Sanctions has allocated the illicit sale of 300,000 barrels of oil per day to Shamkhani’s Admiral Group Shipping Company. Through illicit oil sales, Hossein Shamkhani is reportedly earning $400 million annually. Leaked documents have also revealed he is also making $2.5 million through illicit petrochemical sales. Despite his key role in sanctions evasion and illicit oil and gas sales – which provide funding for IRGC activities – and money laundering, Hossein Shamkhani has yet to be sanctioned.