Deadly Iranian port explosion tied to secret missile materials as Khamenei’s “charity” exposed 

Khamenei-Linked ‘Charitable’ Foundation Exposed After Deadly Iranian Port Blast

A catastrophic explosion at Iran’s Shahid Rajaei port has cast new light on the shadowy financial empire tied directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The deadly blast, which ripped through the bustling port on Saturday, left at least 70 people dead and over 1,000 injured, sending shockwaves not just through the local community but across Iran’s political landscape.

At the center of the unfolding controversy is the "Foundation of the Oppressed," a massive organization often described by U.S. Treasury officials as one of Khamenei’s personal financial strongholds. Officially operating as a charitable foundation, the entity holds sweeping control over an estimated 10% of Iran’s entire economy. Since a decree in 1993 issued directly by Khamenei, the foundation has been allowed to function beyond government oversight and enjoys full tax exemption on its multi-billion-dollar revenues. The organization’s reach spans real estate, manufacturing, banking, and logistics, making it an economic powerhouse hidden under the guise of charity.

Currently, the foundation is led by Hossein Dehghan, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general who simultaneously serves as Khamenei’s senior military adviser. Following U.S. sanctions imposed in 2023, Treasury officials explicitly accused the foundation of enriching Khamenei’s office, rewarding political loyalists, and persecuting regime opponents. The recent explosion has only heightened suspicions about its operations.

Iranian authorities have been evasive about the true cause of the blast. Sina Port CEO Saeed Jafari provided a vague statement, attributing the disaster to “a false statement about the dangerous goods” which resulted in the improper delivery of highly volatile materials. A government spokesperson later downplayed the incident, calling it “human error” in comments to Tasnim News.

However, surveillance footage paints a more alarming picture. Moments before the explosion, cameras captured a distinctive reddish cloud rising from the port terminal, an indicator often associated with ammonium nitrate or similar oxidizing agents. Adding to the intrigue, just days before the blast, the United States had imposed new sanctions targeting shipments of sodium perchlorate, an essential component in missile fuel, being exported from China to Iran. According to shipping records obtained by Politico, a vessel carrying sodium perchlorate had recently docked at Shahid Rajaei port, the very site of the explosion.

While Iranian officials continue to obfuscate, international analysts suggest the blast may be linked to illicit military material transfers facilitated by the Foundation of the Oppressed. The incident underscores longstanding concerns over how Khamenei’s vast, opaque financial network intertwines with Iran’s military ambitions and circumvents international oversight.

The fallout from the explosion has sparked renewed calls for greater scrutiny into Iran’s economic power structures and Khamenei’s unchecked influence over key sectors of the country’s infrastructure.