Author's note: My thanks to Ben Scully, Dan Pasciuti, Şahan Karataşlı, Farideh Farhi, and Ali Reza Eshraghi for comments and suggestions on this article. The research was assisted by a fellowship from the International Dissertation Research Fellowship Program of the Social Science Research Council, with funds provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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⁴⁸ Ibid., additional details from Maydari, “Sharayit.”

⁴⁹ The Economist, 12 July 2001. Petropars was sold in 2009 to a consortium of investors including Mashhad's wealthy Imam Riza religious foundation. Jam-i Jam, 28 April 2009.

⁵⁰ Iʾtimad, 28 September 2009.

⁵¹ Iʾtimad, 7 October 2009; IRIN Channel 2, 29 November 2009.

⁵² Iʾtimad, 4 July 2009, emphasis added.

⁵³ Alif, 27 September 2009.

⁵⁴ Iʾtimad, 25 November 2009.

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⁵⁶ Dunya-yi Iqtisad, 27 June 2010.

⁵⁷ Ayinih-i Bazrasi 61 (2012): 6–7.

⁵⁸ While yet unpublished, Boroujerdi's findings are summarized at http://pomed.org/blog/2010/03/pomed-notes-analyzing-the-political-elite-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran.html (accessed 1 June 2011). On the provincial origins of 1979's new class, see Ehsani, Kaveh, “The Urban Provincial Periphery in Iran: Revolution and War in Ramhormoz,” in Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics, ed. Gheissari, Ali (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 38–76.Google Scholar

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⁶⁸ BBC Persian, 8 June 2011.

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⁷⁴ Maydari, “Sharayit.”

⁷⁵ Sharq, 29 November 2010.

⁷⁶ Dunya-yi Iqtisad, 23 July 2011. Justice Share officials claim that the program's goal is to make sure these companies become profitable in the long run, which is why relatively few dividends have been distributed over the period of 2006 to 2012. Yet in most cases, provincial investment cooperatives still hold less than 50 percent of companies’ total shares. See Dunya-yi Iqtisad, 6 August 2012.

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⁸³ During Ahmadinejad's tenure, Parviz Fattah went from minister of energy to deputy commander of Khatam al-Anbiya and head of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, while Rustam Qasimi inversely went from the top post in Khatam al-Anbiya to become minister of petroleum.

⁸⁴ ISNA, 13 December 2011.

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