Donald Trump has styled himself as a hardline opponent of the Iranian
regime, but new details of a business deal in Azerbaijan point to his
organization’s relationship with an oligarch’s family that has close
links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
A New Yorker feature alleges that indirect ties between Trump’s business interests and the Iranian regime, which he is currently railing against in office, may have been closer than previously believed before he ascended to the presidency.
It reports that the Trump Organization, the business that Trump handed to his sons when he was inaugurated in January, had conducted business with the Mammadov family, specifically “close relatives of Ziya Mammadov,” the Transport Minister of Azerbaijan.
He is a powerful Azerbaijani oligarch that has sat in the Transport Ministry since 2002, and the New Yorker alleges that he has financial ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the operations arm of the Iranian military tasked with the defending the country internally and externally. Last month, anonymous officials within Trump’s team told the Wall Street Journal he was considering classifying the force as an extremist organization.
Read more: How Donald Trump’s business ties are already jeopardizing U.S. interests
The allegations center on the Trump Tower Baku in the Azerbaijani capital, a $35 million project that was slated to become a large tower of apartments. Construction began in 2008, with the Trumps joining the project in 2012, the report says. It was set to include a Trump hotel but Trump’s business was not leading the project, and any financial investments in the project have not been disclosed.]
But an Azerbaijani lawyer involved in the project said Trump’s staff paid visits to the construction site “at least monthly.” The most high-profile Trump Organization to visit Baku was the president’s daughter: Ivanka, who traveled in October 2014.
A New Yorker feature alleges that indirect ties between Trump’s business interests and the Iranian regime, which he is currently railing against in office, may have been closer than previously believed before he ascended to the presidency.
It reports that the Trump Organization, the business that Trump handed to his sons when he was inaugurated in January, had conducted business with the Mammadov family, specifically “close relatives of Ziya Mammadov,” the Transport Minister of Azerbaijan.
He is a powerful Azerbaijani oligarch that has sat in the Transport Ministry since 2002, and the New Yorker alleges that he has financial ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the operations arm of the Iranian military tasked with the defending the country internally and externally. Last month, anonymous officials within Trump’s team told the Wall Street Journal he was considering classifying the force as an extremist organization.
Read more: How Donald Trump’s business ties are already jeopardizing U.S. interests
The allegations center on the Trump Tower Baku in the Azerbaijani capital, a $35 million project that was slated to become a large tower of apartments. Construction began in 2008, with the Trumps joining the project in 2012, the report says. It was set to include a Trump hotel but Trump’s business was not leading the project, and any financial investments in the project have not been disclosed.]
But an Azerbaijani lawyer involved in the project said Trump’s staff paid visits to the construction site “at least monthly.” The most high-profile Trump Organization to visit Baku was the president’s daughter: Ivanka, who traveled in October 2014.
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