The Bonyads

B. de Mesquita, The Dictator’s Handbook, 2011

Iran’s corruption ranking in 2010 was the thirty-second worst (that is, it ranked 146 out of 178 countries in honest business dealings), making it one of the more corrupt regimes in the world [..] Per capita income [..] in Iran [is] only $4,530. Thus, despite its vast oil wealth, Iranians, on average earn [very little]. Tax rates are high [.. they] extract more income tax [.. and have] progressive income taxes although a small group in Iran, known as the Bonyads, is exempt from taxation and even exempt from accusations of corruption. They manage the money of the senior ayatollahs and some key military leaders. The Bonyads are reputed to control 20 to 25 percent of Iran’s annual income—not bad as private benefits go.