A federal court approved a settlement on January 17, 2025, resolving long-running U.S. litigation involving the Alavi Foundation and interests in the Manhattan office tower at 650 Fifth Avenue. The settlement’s main terms—including transferring Alavi’s assets to a newly created charity and providing $318 million in payments or releases to the U.S. government and terrorism judgment creditors—were later described in a filing with New York’s charities regulator and reported by Jewish Insider.
A federal court approved a settlement agreement on January 17, 2025, in a case stemming from years of U.S. efforts to forfeit interests connected to the 36-story office building at 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Background of the dispute
The Alavi Foundation has long held a 60% interest in the building through a partnership structure, while the U.S. government has pursued forfeiture claims tied to the building’s minority interest and alleged links to Iran. In June 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced a jury verdict finding the building—described by the Justice Department as worth more than $500 million—along with other properties and funds, forfeitable as proceeds of alleged Iran-sanctions and money-laundering violations. The Justice Department said at the time the verdict was the largest civil forfeiture jury verdict and the largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture in U.S. history.
In August 2019, a federal appeals court overturned the 2017 forfeiture verdict and ordered further proceedings, leaving the case to continue in litigation.
Terms described in New York charity filing
The settlement’s central financial terms were outlined in a January 12 filing with New York’s charities regulator, which was later reported by Jewish Insider and summarized by other real-estate and legal trackers. The filing said the deal would transfer Alavi’s assets to a new entity, the Amir Kabir Foundation, and “provide for the payment or release of a total of $318 million” to the U.S. government and terrorism judgment creditors.
The filing also stated that a majority of that amount would be satisfied through an exchange involving the 40% partnership interest previously held by Assa Corporation—an entity U.S. prosecutors have described in court filings and prior public statements as being indirectly owned by Iran’s Bank Melli. The filing said that interest was being held by the U.S. government, and that rental income associated with that share had accumulated during the litigation and was held in an account controlled by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Daily Wire described the 40% interest as worth $174 million. Independent confirmation of that specific valuation was not found in the publicly available Justice Department press materials reviewed for this fact-check.
Sealing order
The Daily Wire also reported that, on March 11, 2026, U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska granted a request to seal an order related to the settlement. The underlying court documents cited by the outlet were not independently reviewed here, and the scope of what was sealed could not be confirmed from official court announcements.
Prior criminal case involving Alavi’s former president
Separately, the Justice Department previously brought an obstruction-related criminal case involving Farshid Jahedi, a former president of the Alavi Foundation. Federal prosecutors said he was charged in 2009 in connection with the alleged destruction of documents subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating Alavi’s relationship with Bank Melli and issues related to the building’s ownership. The Justice Department said Jahedi pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2010 to three months in prison.
Oversight and governance issues raised by outside critics
According to the January 12 charity filing described by Jewish Insider and referenced by the Daily Wire, New York Attorney General Letitia James agreed to the settlement’s charitable-oversight framework, under which the new foundation would be subject to oversight for five years.
The Daily Wire further reported that Alavi’s attorney, Daniel Ruzumna, said Alavi’s board has turned over since the litigation began and that leaders of the new foundation were interviewed by the Justice Department without objection, adding that the new foundation and its board members have no relationship to the Iranian government.
The outlet also cited comments attributed to Lara Burns—identified as a former FBI agent and a terrorism researcher at George Washington University—raising concerns that restructuring could make it harder to track influence or control.
Claims about mosque funding and political scrutiny
The Daily Wire reported that the Alavi Foundation helped fund the Manassas Mosque in Northern Virginia and cited a 2023 letter from Republican members of Congress raising concerns about Iranian influence activities at U.S. mosques, including the Manassas mosque. That July 28, 2023 letter alleged the mosque received about $200,000 from Alavi and cited reports and imagery it said showed Iranian-regime symbols and displays inside.
Some additional claims in the Daily Wire report—such as references to an “event honoring” Iran’s supreme leader after his reported death, and the use of the operation name “Operation Epic Fury”—were not corroborated by the Justice Department materials or the New York charity filing described above and were not necessary to describe the settlement itself.
