Firms Linked To Revolutionary Guards To Win Sanctions Relief Under Iran Deal

BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of companies tied to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, a military force commanding a powerful industrial empire with huge political influence, will win sanctions relief under a nuclear deal agreed with world powers.

The development is likely to anger critics of the accord, not least in the United States andIsrael, but may be welcomed by Iranians eager for Iran to reopen to the outside world. The IRGC will act for Western firms in many ways as a gatekeeper to some of the most lucrative areas of Iran's economy.