When the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988, much of Iran’s infrastructure was either ruined or neglected. Reconstruction started immediately, but neither the private nor the public sector were capable of compensating for all the destruction that occurred during the war. This is where Khatam al-Anbiya (Seal of the Prophets) came in.
Today, 26 years after the end of the Iran-Iraq war, no one can doubt that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the most important macroeconomic forces in the country. Khatam al-Anbiya, the main economic arm of the IRGC, was officially founded after the war on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mohsen Rezaee was the first commander of this military-economic base and gave it the nickname “Ghorb,” its acronym in Arabic. He was succeeded by Cmdr. Rahim Safavi, followed by Mohammad Ali Jafari and finally Rostam Ghasemi. Currently, Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters is headed by commander Abdollah Abdollahi.
Khatam al-Anbiya’s is mostly involved in civil projects such as road construction, dam building, gas line construction and the expansion of gas and oil fields. In an Oct. 11 interview with Fars News, Abdollahi said, "Khatam al-Anbiya has 135,000 personnel,” and added that 5,000 contractors are collaborating with Khatam al-Anbiya.
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