White House Weighs Who Benefits Most From a Deal With Iran

The White House is advancing a war-ending agreement with Iran, but the move carries a troubling paradox: the economic benefits meant to bring Iran back into the international community could also strengthen the Middle East’s most powerful terrorist organization. A Reuters report says revelations about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ trade and influence networks have raised fears that lifting sanctions would restore its control over large parts of Iran’s economy, while also creating legal exposure for Western companies that want to invest there.

According to senior Iranian sources and sanctions experts, the IRGC has taken over major chunks of the economy since the war began and is best positioned to profit from foreign investment, oil exports, and a proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund. For years, the Guards used sanctions periods to build a sprawling business empire spanning oil, construction, communications, ports, and logistics. Its engineering arm, Khatam al-Anbiya, now runs hundreds of subsidiaries involved in national infrastructure, energy, and tourism.

The article says Iranian investment law requires foreign firms to work with local partners, making IRGC-linked companies near-inevitable partners for returning Western investors. Former U.S. Treasury sanctions investigator Jeremy Paner warned that even if President Donald Trump approves oil exports, American companies could still face liability because the Guards would remain in the background. He cited the 2016 JASTA law, which allows terror victims to sue firms that assist designated terrorist groups, turning any Iran deal into a legal minefield.

The IRGC’s internal power has also grown since the war began on February 28, when, according to the report, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was removed and his son Mojtaba gained support from the Guards. The report says the IRGC’s decades of sanctions evasion, use of shell companies, and international intermediaries have made it highly adept at surviving pressure, and that it prospered under both Khomeini and Khamenei. The central question for Washington is whether Trump can reopen Iran to the world without giving a financial boost to the body that runs much of the country’s terror infrastructure.