The appointment of senior managers at the National Iranian Copper Industries Company and Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex in recent years has been accompanied by allegations of influence peddling, pressure to appoint specific individuals, non-transparent managerial relations, and weak oversight of financial files.
At the center of this investigation are Seyed Mostafa Feiz Ardakani, CEO of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company, and Mahmoud Khodadadi, the new manager of the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex. The backgrounds of former managers, including Hossein Modarres Khiabani and Asghar Salehi, are also important for understanding the roots of the disputes and allegations raised.
Seyed Mostafa Feiz Ardakani was appointed in 2025 by the decision of the company's board of directors as the successor to Hossein Modarres Khiabani. He previously worked in the petrochemical industry and had managed companies such as Jam Polypropylene and Shimi Baft. Feiz Ardakani was the CEO of Jam Polypropylene from 2020 to 2022.
The transfer of a manager with a predominantly petrochemical background to the helm of one of Iran's largest mining companies raised questions about the criteria for his selection and the role of board members and major shareholders in this appointment leading to corruption.
Criticism against Ardakani's management mainly relates to the way the company's financial resources are spent. Some parliament members have emphasized that the National Copper Company has spent several hundred billion tomans in grants and nearly a thousand billion tomans ostensibly for professional sports. This issue is mostly associated with corrupt documentation and financial dealings.
The ten thousand billion toman social responsibility budget for 2026, approved during Feiz Ardakani's management, is one of the most controversial parts of the strange and unprecedented spending and widespread corruption in the Kerman Copper Company.
Three Manager Changes in Less Than a Month at Sarcheshmeh Copper
Managerial changes at the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex in September 2026 are another contentious topic. On September 5, Asghar Salehi stepped down from management, and Hamid Naderi-Nasab was introduced as the interim manager. However, less than a month later, Mahmoud Khodadadi was appointed as the manager of the complex by the CEO of the National Copper Company.
This rapid change occurred under conditions where the specialized media Mine News reported on controversies related to arrests and incidents at the complex. Khodadadi's presence, despite ambiguous and contentious backgrounds, has been confirmed in this position.
Claim of Provincial Officials' Pressure for Complex Manager Appointment
One of the noteworthy claims was published on the Telegram channel "Kerman Media." This media claimed that a senior government official in the province pressured the then-managing directors and the new CEO of the National Copper Company to appoint an individual with the initials "M.K" as the manager of the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex.
Kerman Media also claimed that the supported individual has a family relationship with one of the persons accused of economic corruption, and previous company managers resisted this appointment. This claim is important for two reasons: first, the interference of officials outside the company structure in industrial appointments, and second, the potential influence of personal relationships on the selection of managers.
However, one of the financial cases related to the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex concerns a rice purchase contract for employees. In 2025, reports of possible misconduct in a contract worth 70 billion tomans were published. The CEO of the National Copper Company stated in a letter to the Stock Exchange Organization that the contract was concluded by the employees' cooperative of the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex and that the National Copper Company was not directly involved, an issue that was later not confirmed due to its dimensions.
Simultaneously, Dadkhoda Salari, the Chief Inspector of the Judiciary in Kerman Province, reported on a case of network embezzlement and collusion in government transactions and announced that several main suspects had been arrested by the order of the Rafsanjan prosecutor. This case is an example of financial ambiguities in entities related to the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, but in the published information, criminal liability of Feiz Ardakani, Asghar Salehi, or Mahmoud Khodadadi has not been proven.
The "Mining and Steel Messengers" media, in another report, raised the possibility of using documents from companies affiliated with copper to secure bail for an economic suspect. The report's author claimed that he had previously provided evidence of potential misconduct during Hossein Modarres Khiabani's management and that Modarres Khiabani had asked Asghar Salehi, the then-manager of the Sarcheshmeh Complex, to investigate the matter.
According to this narrative, documented reports were also sent to the CEO's office and the complex's management, but the author reported not receiving a specific response. This media then questioned the possible use of assets from companies affiliated with copper for the bail of the suspect's release.
Ambiguity in the Management Structure of Sarcheshmeh Copper Investment Company
In July 2026, changes in the board composition of the Sarcheshmeh Copper Investment Company also made headlines. According to the "Petrochemical News" report, Taher Hedayati, representing Atiyeh Andishan Copper Investment Company, and Salman Manzari Tavakoli, representing the National Copper Company's Pension Fund, joined the board.
The simultaneous position of Manzari Tavakoli as the financial and economic deputy with his non-executive membership on the board raised questions about the separation of executive and supervisory responsibilities. At the time of the report's publication, Farrokh Fadaei also chaired the board of this company and headed the Copper Pension Fund. This situation can be examined from the perspective of corporate governance and conflict of interest.
The overall information indicates that in the National Copper Company and its affiliated entities, several independent issues require closer examination: the role of shareholders and external officials in appointments, the allocation of social responsibility budgets, the handling of financial cases, and the independence of supervisory units.
In April 2026, Feiz Ardakani announced that appointments during his management were based on meritocracy, specialization, and the use of internal forces, and the company sought to strengthen financial discipline and eliminate unnecessary expenses. This is while his own appointment as CEO of the Iran Copper Company was not based on meritocracy, resulting in widespread corruption.
The online newspaper Faraz also reported on the increase in the social responsibility budget from about 4,500 billion tomans to ten thousand billion tomans, questioning Feiz Ardakani, Mohammad Reza Farzin as the chairman of the board, and Mohammad Masoud Samieinejad as the head of IMIDRO about the oversight of these resources.