In 2013, a number of endowed properties belonging to the Nematollahi Gonabadi Dervish Order in Beydokht, Razavi Khorasan Province, were confiscated following a lawsuit by Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, also known as EIKO. This entity was established based on an edict signed by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 to manage and sell properties “without owners” and direct much of the proceeds to charity.

EIKO invoked Article 49 of the Islamic Republic’s Constitution and claimed the ownership of ten pieces of endowed properties of Gonabadi Dervishes in Beydokht. According to Article 49, “persons who have left the country and their relationship with militant groups (baghi groups, Zionists, CIA spies, and the like) are proven, is no longer protected and can be confiscated by a court order.” Allegedly, EIKO claimed that the Gonabadi Dervish Order had had ties with the Shah’s government.

Among the properties confiscated by EIKO was the residential house of the former spiritual leader of the Dervish Order in the proximity of Mazar-e Sultani Mausoleum, which is a holy site and cemetery for Gonabadi Dervishes. Majzooban-e Noor website reported that EIKO had published a notice about confiscation, according to the procedure of Article 49, but in a low-circulation newspaper. After that, a judgment in absentia was rendered by Branch 1 of Mashhad’s Revolutionary Court against Gonabadi Dervishes.

In December 2013, following the Gonabadi Dervishes’ objection to the Mashhads court ruling, the Beydokht city court examined the issue of property confiscation. There is no report on the outcome of this trial.