Reading desperation in Tehran: Gold is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ best friend
Fox News
The US-sanctioned Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is reportedly involved in more than terrorism. A recent report claimed that Iran is a narco state with the IRGC doing much of the contraband trade in narcotics and gold.
Mahan Air is run by the IRGC and sanctioned by the United States. That money then, Razavi says, according to what he describes as a network of informers he’s tapped into on the ground, finds its way into the bank accounts of people not necessarily of the regime but friends and family, sometimes in Western-friendly countries. Perhaps it is a life insurance policy if things ultimately go badly. Amy Kellogg currently serves as a correspondent based in Milan. She joined FOX News Channel (FNC) in 1999 as a Moscow-based correspondent. Follow her on Twitter: @amykelloggfox
Razavi’s story corresponds to what Israeli defense sources have highlighted in recent months—that Venezuela sends gold to Iran as payment for the oil that Iran cannot sell elsewhere—and then that gold gets cashed in, in third countries. The cash goes toward financing Hezbollah and its nefarious activities, which are also to an extent the regime’s life insurance, keeping proxy wars hot and away from Iran’s actual territory.