Isuzu

"Isuzu Motors Ltd is considering expanding its business in Iran following the recent removal of the Japanese government’s economic sanctions on Tehran, a company official said Monday. The Japanese commercial vehicle maker is apparently aiming to increase exports of parts for light-duty trucks while watching the economic situation in Iran, Japan’s Jiji Press reported. Currently, a local company in Iran assembles such trucks using parts shipped from Isuzu and sells them in the country. When the economic sanctions were in place, the period for parts shipments had been limited. At a press conference, Isuzu Managing Executive Officer Makoto Kawahara said, 'We will work on expanding our operations in Iran even more actively once the economic sanctions are fully removed.'" (Bernama, “Japan’s Isuzu mulling biz expansion in Iran,” 2/10/2016)

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"Isuzu Motors plans to resume exports of light trucks and other models to Iran once [sanctions are lifted]." (Nikkei, “Japanese automakers readying to renew exports to Iran,” 10/10/2015)

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In 2015 testimony before the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi affirmed, “Bahman Group and the firms that control it are IRGC companies.” He continued: "The firm is a case study that illustrates how IRGC companies are structured to obfuscate corporate governance information as a means to evade sanctions. The two company shareholders that jointly control Bahman Group – Fan Pardazan Bahman Co. (27.41%) and Andishe Fardah Investment Company (25.62%) – are both owned by Bahman Group itself. The identity of the board of directors, however, reveals IRGC control over the company." (Testimony Before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, “The Iran Nuclear Deal and its Impact on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” 09/17/2015).
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Individuals in charge of the IRGC charitable foundation that owns a large stake in the Bahman Group, the “Cooperative Foundation” (a.k.a. Bonyad-e Ta’avon Sepah), include: Brigadier General Morteza Rezaei (Chairman): former head of IRGC intelligence for a decade and former deputy commander in chief of the IRGC. Rezaei has direct involvement in terror activities. Morteza Bahmanyar (Chief Financial Officer): head of the budget planning department at the U.S.-sanctioned Aerospace Industries Organization, a Ministry of Defense company in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile program. Masoud Mehrdadi (Board Member): financial expert for the IRGC, also serving on the board for other IRGC entities. (Business Insider, “If The US Wants A Nuclear Deal, It Needs To Fully Enforce Its Sanctions Against Iran's Revolutionary Guards,” 9/14/2014).

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"Isuzu uses the Bahman Group as its distributor in Iran, according to Isuzu's Web site. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation, a large investment fund closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), owns a 45 percent share of the Bahman Group, according to Iranian newspaper reports. (Among the links between the Sepah Cooperative Foundation and the IRGC: the general manager of the the Sepah Cooperative until this fall was IRGC commander Ahmad Vahid-Dastjerdi. Another former notable head of the Sepah Cooperative Foundation was Mohsen Rafiqdoost, who helped found the IRGC. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation's stake in the Bahman Group has also been reported by Rand Corporation, in a 2009 report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the think tanks the Washington Institute, and the Council on Foreign Relations reports.) Isuzu spokesman Kouichi Itou said in a statement that the company was not aware of those links and believed that a 'Retirement Insurance Organization' was a 45 percent shareholder in Bahman."

From 2000 through March 2010, Isuzu has been the recipient of $1.9 million in U.S. federal funds. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the U.S.", 3/6/10)