By Reuters Reporter PUBLISHED: 09:12 EST, 11 November 2013 | UPDATED: 11:08 EST, 11 November 2013 Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei controls a business empire worth around $95 billion (£59 billion) - a sum exceeding the value of his oil-rich nation's current annual petroleum exports, a six-month Reuters investigation shows. The little-known organization, called Setad, is one of the keys to the Iranian leader's enduring power and now holds stakes in nearly every sector of Iranian industry, including finance, oil, telecommunications, the production of birth-control pills and even ostrich farming. Setad has built its empire on the systematic seizure of thousands of properties belonging to ordinary Iranians - members of religious minorities, Shi'ite Muslims, business people and Iranians living abroad.
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The empire was built on the seizure of Iranians' property, a report claims
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It gives Khamenei considerable economic might, the investigation says
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It's worth more than Iran's annual petroleum exports
Growth: Under @placeholder (above), Setad has expanded its corporate holdings, buying stakes in dozens of Iranian companies
@placeholder gives him the financial means to operate independently of parliament and the national budget, insulating him from Iran's messy factional infighting.