TEHRAN (Dispatches) – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the other branches of the nation’s armed forces have been instructed to sell off business holdings and commercial assets "irrelevant” to their main function, the country’s defense minister said in a newspaper interview.
Brigadier General Amir Hatami said Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had instructed armed forces to either divest economic holdings on the country’s capital market or sell them to the private sector.
"They will pursue this matter until these forces withdraw from irrelevant economic activities,” Hatami was quoted as saying in an interview late Saturday to Iran newspaper.
Defense forces have economic holdings in Iran’s construction, energy, banking, insurance and telecommuncations industries.  
Hatami said that according to Iran’s constitution the force must assist and support the government on various projects at its request and this could take the shape of economic activities.
"These tasks are of another nature and are in order to help various sectors,” Hatami said. "Depending on the requirements of the government, this work can continue or it may not.”
"Our success depends on market conditions," he said but did not name the companies that would be privatized.