Nabiollah Rafizadeh became an orphan at the age of nine. He left school and started working in a tailor shop in Abadan that made costumes for European dancers.

He lived and worked there until he was sixteen—without protection, without a family, but with pride.

At sixteen, with a significant savings, he moved to Karaj; at that time, Karaj was just a rural district. It had only one tailor, and Rafizadeh began working there with his experience.

It was 1968; the same year the Shah purchased landlords’ lands and sold them to farmers. The Karaj land was one of those properties.

At that time, registering property for individuals under 18 was prohibited, and Rafizadeh was only 17.

However, the seller was impressed by his remarkable savings and encouraged him to buy Karaj, on the condition that the deed would temporarily be registered in another name.

Rafizadeh agreed.

He then sought loans from individuals and banks.

For several consecutive years, he struggled to borrow from different sources.

Eventually, after years of legal battles with the person whose name the land was under, he managed to reclaim the deed and prepare part of the land for construction.

By then, Rafizadeh had matured.

When he purchased the Karaj land, there were a few small production workshops, which he also acquired with the land.

Gradually, he expanded these workshops to increase his income from the property.

Over time, he transformed them into large factories, such as Darougar and Arj.

A few years later, before the 1979 revolution, Rafizadeh purchased land of Gohardasht. By then, he had more financial means,

but he still faced budget shortages for buying the Gohardasht land.

Therefore, he continued taking loans from individuals and banks, while also needing workers to advance his projects—the hardest part of his working life.

About two years before the 1979 revolution, Rafizadeh completed and rented the first buildings in Gohardasht.

Gradually, he built staff housing across the Karaj land for his workers’ welfare.

In 1984, he finally got married.

In the late 1980s, the Islamic Republic auctioned Kish Island.

After the 1979 revolution, there were no remaining private capitalists in Iran, and the result of the auction was already predictable:

Kish Island, with all its oil wells, was sold to Nabiollah Rafizadeh—of course, after completing all the legal auction procedures.

In 1989, the government auctioned the Iranian metro construction project.

Rafizadeh once again participated and won.

In 1990, he laid the first foundations for the metro, both above and below ground.

The project began in Aryashahr, Tehran.

By 1995, Lines 1 and 2 were inaugurated, marking the first operational metro in Iran, under Rafizadeh’s investment and management, not the government’s.

Until 2005, Rafizadeh continuously expanded factories, the metro, Kish Island, and their related assets.

By then, he had two sons but never had the opportunity to be with them.

The number of his factories exceeded 5,000, producing goods of unparalleled quality.

Kish Island also flourished under his efforts.

The blossoming had begun.

In 2005, just when Rafizadeh’s efforts were bearing fruit and prosperity had begun, he suddenly disappeared. The Iranian army, which had continuously received salaries to protect him and his properties, retreated overnight. Suddenly, all members of his family were left defenseless, without any warning.