Parent organization of Assa Corporation; controlled by and acts for or on behalf of Iran's Bank Melli.

Listed by the European Union on July 26, 2010 as an entity linked to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran's development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; removed from the E.U. list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on December 17, 2008, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; removed from the SDN list in January 2016 as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Established (with Assa Corporation) as shell companies to disguise Bank Melli's 40% ownership interest in the 650 Fifth Avenue Company - owner of the office building at 650 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, founded in 1989 as a partnership between the Mostazafan Foundation (now the Avali Foundation) and Bank Melli; since at least 1990, Assa Corporation transferred rental income from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli through Assa Company Limited without the required U.S. government authorization; targeted by a civil action filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on December 17, 2008, seeking the forfeiture of all right, title and interest of Assa Company Limited, Assa Corporation and Bank Melli in the 650 Fifth Avenue Company as proceeds of alleged violations of the U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act and as property involved in alleged money laundering and attempted money laundering; on September 17, 2013, district court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the United States and ordered that the property by forfeited.

Straw owners Davood Shakeri and Fatemeh Aghamiri, residents of Iran representing Bank Melli's interests, each own 50% of Assa Company Limited's share capital.