Kambiz Mahmoud Rostamian, an Iranian citizen, was sanctioned by the United States in February 2016 for allegedly providing “financial, material, technological, or other support” to two Iranian conglomerates involved in his country’s ballistic missile program.
Rostamian is the chief executive officer of MKS International, an Iranian company that, according to the US Treasury, has been procuring technology and hardware for the Iranian ballistic missile program since 2011 and using numerous front companies to evade sanctions. One of these, the Dubai-based Royal Pearl General Trading, was also led by Rostamian. Both companies were sanctioned along with their CEO.
The U.S. Treasury says that Rostamian’s network was collaborating with the Aerospace Industries Organization and Shahid Bakeri Industries Group, both of which are owned by the Iranian military and sanctioned by the US.
Rostamian appears in a leaked database of property and residency data compiled by assorted real estate professionals and provided to C4ADS, which in turn shared it with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Rostamian is shown as being connected with two properties in Dubai that, together, are worth more than US$ 2 million.
One of these is a villa that itself is worth almost $2 million in the Jumeirah Islands, a set of man-made islands in a large artificial lake in Dubai.
The second, worth about $300,000, is in the Armada Towers, a set of three mixed-use buildings opposite the Dubai Marina and next to the Emirates Golf Club.
Rostamian could not be reached for comment.
This story is part of the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium, a collaboration started by OCCRP and Transparency International. For more information, click here.
