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Mohammad Hossein Shamlou, investigating magistrate at the 1st branch of Tehran's criminal affairs division, declared today that the mysterious deaths of a director of a holding company close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and his wife were accidental and caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Shahin Soleimanipour's lifeless body was found in her home in Tehran's exclusive Ozgol neighborhood on December 10, 2009. Her husband Majid was discovered unconscious and transferred to Shahid Chamran Hospital where he was declared dead.

The case would not have gained any more prominence than a short mention in the inside pages of newspapers, except for two facts. The deaths occurred at a time of heightened tension in a country known for mysterious and convenient disappearances. And, more intriguingly, Majid Soleimanipour was the managing director and member of the board of directors of the Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin company.

The consortium that Soleimanipour managed appears to have been a front company of the IRGC and had on September 27 bought a controlling stake in the Telecommunication Company of Iran for $8 billion in a purchase that was both rigged and the largest transaction in the history of the Tehran stock exchange. The operation provoked concern about the IRGC's increased ability to monitor telephone and Internet communications. Since the sale of the telecom stock was ostensibly carried out in line with the government's privatization dri... >>>