Iran Revolutionary Guard buys telecom stake

Tehran, Iran: A consortium affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard has purchased a majority stake in the country's telecommunications company for $7.8 billion.

Iranian state media said Sunday that Etemad-e-Mobin bought a 50 per cent plus one share stake in Iran's Telecommunications Company. The government had been looking to privatise the firm.

The deal is the largest ever recorded on the Tehran stock exchange.

The acquisition effectively places the vital telecommunications sector under the control of the Guard, an elite force that was created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend Iran's clerical rule.

The Guard's forces have been accused of violently suppressing protests following the disputed June 12 elections.