Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Bonyads are Iranian charitable trusts that control over 40% of Iran’s GDP. Initially set up during the time of the Shah, they were used to funnel money into the Shah's personal coffers. After the Iranian revolution, the Bonyads were used to redistribute oil income amongst the poor and amongst the families of martyrs. In current day Iran Bonyads are powerful patrons with political influence due to contributions to politicians. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.