The appointment of the new list of Iran Carbon Company's board of directors has faced serious criticism from industry activists who believe that more than the claimed meritocracy, behind-the-scenes lobbying has been active, turning the board seats of Iran Carbon into a place of reward for inefficient and weak managers.
The background of the new list includes Mohammad Farsi as CEO and vice-chairman, Ali Zardan, Morteza Abbaszadeh, and Esmail Mazaheri as board members of Iran Carbon Company, each indicating a set of doubts about their qualifications and related resumes. Additionally, the clear misconduct of some of these figures in previous positions shows that the Petrochemical Industries Investment Holding, as the main owner of Iran Carbon, has deviated from the requirement of professional competence for appointments, opting instead for positions based on recommendations, lobbying, and arranging managers to facilitate contractual collusions.
One of the most notable recent dubious appointments returns to Morteza Abbaszadeh, a new board member of Iran Carbon Company, which has raised serious questions about the mechanism for assessing the qualifications of managers in the chain of companies affiliated with Shasta.
Official sources have introduced this appointment as part of "organizing the boards of subsidiary companies"; however, information provided by some informed sources to Feydus News paints a different picture of this manager's professional background and the manner of support he has received; claims that, if true, underscore the necessity for oversight bodies to intervene and publish the results of the inquiries conducted..
According to the official announcement of Tapico on June 6, 2026, the CEO of the Petrochemical Industries Investment Holding appointed Morteza Abbaszadeh alongside Ali Zardan and Esmail Mazaheri to the board of Iran Carbon. The information published on the Codal system also confirms Abbaszadeh's non-executive membership on the board of this company..
The importance of this appointment lies in the fact that Iran Carbon is a publicly-traded company and is considered one of the managerial units of the Tapico group. The Petrochemical Industries Investment Holding, the major shareholder of Iran Carbon, is also part of the ownership chain of Shasta and Tapico; therefore, its managerial decisions are not merely private matters and are related to the investments of millions of insured and retired individuals..
A Professional Path from Makran to Abolfars
In the official introduction of Abbaszadeh, it is stated that he is a graduate of mechanical engineering from Sharif University of Technology and has held positions such as deputy CEO of Abolfars Petro-Refinery, engineering manager and project manager at Makran Energy Mofid Development Company, and engineering manager at Rajan Petro Process Company. These experiences show that a significant part of his professional activity has been focused on engineering, project management, and the oil and refining industries..
However, informed sources remind that regarding part of this professional path, especially his period of activity in projects related to Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Makran Energy Mofid Development, and Abolfars Petro-Refinery, there are clear signs of corruption and repeated misconduct. According to the information sent, Abbaszadeh was initially employed by a contracting company active in the Persian Gulf Star project and after his corruption and repeated collusions with contracting companies were exposed, he left that organization. The level of this misconduct and corruption was such that it is said his return to the organization was met with opposition from the employer..
Regarding Abbaszadeh's period of activity at Makran Energy Mofid Development Company, informed sources in this company remind that the management of tenders, the selection of licensors, and relations with some contractors led to a series of disclosed corruption cases. Feydus News sources claim that his cooperation with this company ended after investigations by the security department were influenced. Similar to the case attributed to him during a trip to Italy, which led to direct intervention by the security department, and the level of this ethical misconduct was such that even Abbaszadeh's supporters could not cover up this case.
Makran Energy Mofid Development Company is introduced as one of the companies of the Mofid Economic Group and the executor of the Makran Pearl Petro-Refinery project. For this reason, it is expected that this organization also explains the reason for the end of Abbaszadeh's cooperation and the validity of the claims made to determine whether, according to what is available today, a manager with a record of repeated corruption has taken a seat on the board of one of the important publicly-traded companies or these cases were not as significant as claimed today..
Efforts to Conceal Abbaszadeh's Criminal Records
The most serious part of the information sent is the existence of a criminal record for Abbaszadeh. Informed sources claim that in 2007, while he was a mechanical engineering student, he was imprisoned for six months in a case related to embezzlement and accused of collaborating with his brother.
This issue places the responsibility of answering on Tapico, Shasta, and the Petrochemical Industries Investment Holding. These companies must answer whether, before issuing the appointment, a certificate of no criminal record and inquiries from judicial and security authorities were obtained? If the answer is yes, why are the results of these investigations not published to clear up ambiguities?
Sources also claim that Abbaszadeh has been supported by some influential figures in the Mofid Economic Group, and an individual with the surname "Lak," who held the position of his deputy in Abbaszadeh's previous positions, played a direct role in coordinating contracts and relations with contractors. Regarding the potential collaboration with the contracting company Abad Rahan and facilitating contracts for this company, various documents are available that have further cast doubt and ambiguity on Abbaszadeh's background.
Retirees' Investments and the Need to Publish Inquiry Results
This case is at a point where silence itself contributes to the spread of distrust. Iran Carbon is a company with over 6 trillion tomans in assets and hundreds of billions of tomans in annual profits. Membership on the board of such a company provides access to strategic information and participation in decision-making regarding contracts, investments, and public assets..
Tapico has previously spoken of reviewing approximately 1,200 resumes and making 75 appointments within the framework of the "merit-based selection" model. The real test of this claim now is to provide an explanation about the criteria for selecting Abbaszadeh: which entity confirmed his qualifications? Were the records of his departure from previous companies reviewed? Have his potential relationships with contractors been disclosed and evaluated for conflicts of interest?
Answering these questions does not mean issuing a pre-judgment against a manager; rather, it is the minimum transparency that the true owners of Shasta's investments, namely the insured and retirees, have the right to demand.