Conservative Paper Calls For Axing Iran’s Islamic Propaganda Outfit
A conservative newspaper in Iran has called on President Ebrahim Raisi to shut down the Islamic Propagation Organization and spend the budget on pressing needs.
A conservative newspaper in Iran has called on President Ebrahim Raisi to shut down the Islamic Propagation Organization and spend the budget on pressing needs.
In an editorial authored by the daily's outspoken managing editor Masih Mohajeri on June 9, Jomhouri Eslami [Islamic Republic] writing about the Iranian government's economic problems said, "A government that holds up payments to pensioners as a bid to solve its economic problems should prioritize its expenditures and get rid of unnecessary organizations."
The daily asked: "Some of Iran's cultural organizations do nothing other than duplicating the efforts of other government institutions. For instance, what kind of service is the Islamic Propagation Organization rendering that justifies its survival?" The newspaper maintained: "The high-maintenance organization should have attained its initial goals during the past 40 years [of an Islamic government]. If it hasn't, it means that it has not been successful."
The Islamic Propagation Organization is a body that operates in parallel with Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and one of its objectives is offering guidelines to Friday Prayer Imams in cities and towns nationwide.
Over the past four decades, the organization's main function has been justifying the government's policies and trumpeting the ideas of fundamentalists in Iran such as the Friday Prayer Imams in Isfahan and Mashhad. The two clerics are often criticized by the people for undermining human rights and advocating violence against women and those who follow a lifestyle different from the preferences of the fundamentalists.
Last week, a young man in Isfahan attacked Yousef Tabatabainejad, the Imam in Isfahan who had opined that people can attack "bad-hijab" women at their own discretion. In their sermons on Friday June 10, several imams made outlandish statements. Ignoring Iran's economic problems, Rasoul Abdollahi who led the prayers in Tabriz said that Raisi's economic policy is being followed in Russia as an economic model for resistance.
Meanwhile, Mohamad Nabi Mousavi Fard in Ahwaz called for shaming those who undermine “Islamic values in the streets” as a lesson for others, while Ahmad Khatami in Tehran and many others in other cities repeated the official jargon about a resolution passed this week at the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, criticizing Iran's non-cooperative behavior and praised the government for undermining IAEA safeguards.
In another article on Thursday, the Jomhouri Eslami wrote that the government has increased the Islamic Propagation Organization's budget by 156 per cent in for the current year. The article charged that the government of President Ebrahim Raisi has started what he called an "economic surgery" by targeting the poorest Iranians while giving more funds to government bodies such as the Islamic Propagation Organization.
Last year the organization received around $40 million based on the average exchange rate in 2021, there fore this year the appropriation is more than $100 million. Although this might not seem like a large sum by Western standards, in Iran an average person has a salary of $150 per month.
Overall, the government spends close to $800 million on propaganda outfits, not counting the state television with close to 40,000 employees and a $200 million budget plus advertising income.
The article went on to say that such organizations have been a burden on the country's annual budget and national financial resources for years without being able to contribute to productive efforts or the nation's welfare. The daily argued that economic pressures should be distributed fairly among various parts of the government and groups of the population.
Raja News website which speaks for the ultraconservative Paydari party quoted governor general of Khuzestan Province Sadegh Khalilian as saying that the Metropol Towers were built during Iran's previous government, adding that "the building was erected on the foundations of corruption and unhealthy relations."
Officials say they have recovered more than 40 bodies but citizens say many more people were inside when it collapsed.
Earlier, Iranian media and social media activists had pointed out that the owner of Metropol maintained illicit links to individuals, as high-ranking as Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of National Security. They accused the bigwig of helping the owner Hossein Abdolbaghi by using his influence through local officials including his nephew Mo'ud Shamkhani.
Mr. Shamkhani, an IRGC general, categorically denied using his influence, but subsequently, other reports mentioned further details about the link including family bonds between the Shamkhanis and Abdolbaghis, which could not be denied.
The decision to hint at some of the corruption involved in building the towers could have been made at a higher level in the government. The official Instagram account of the Iranian government on June 5 also posted a photo of the ruins of Metropol Tower in Abadan that collapsed on 23 May. The text in the post quoted Khalilian as saying: "The Metropol incident is the consequence of unhealthy relations and lack of supervisory measures."
Khalilian was the first high-level official to confirm media reports about financial corruption in the tragedy. He acknowledged that there has been corruption in the province dating back to 2015-2020, distancing himself and the Raisi administration that assumed office in 2021.
Unlike most of Iran's local governors who come from the Revolutionary Guard’s top brass, Khalilian was previously an academic at the University of Ahvaz and the Teachers Training University in Tehran although he had started his career as a petty officer in the IRGC.
Khalilian said that the local authorities at the time were aware of the building's instability in with at least two series of reports given to them by the engineering supervisory body in 2017 and 2019, but they simply ignored it because of those "unhealthy relations", which means bribery in the Iranian administrative jargon.
He added that the building was illegally constructed in an alleyway that was only 4 meters wide and this made search and rescue efforts difficult, and that the building permit was for a 6-story building and five floors were added later.
Khalilian had earlier said that 13 local officials including the cities last three mayors are under arrest. Earlier this week, former governor general of Khuzestan Gholamreza Shariati who has been implicated in corruption cases, left Iran for the United Arab Emirates and reports about his "escape" were published on social media. Later, the Iranian Judiciary said that he was not implicated in the case.
On Tuesday, Shariati wrote on social media that he is back in Iran, however, there is no evidence that the statement was really made by him or if he did return. Khalilian said that leaving the country was a mistake by the former governor and called on the judiciary to take this into account.
Talking further about corruption Khalilian said, "Perhaps no money has changed hands, but when high-ranking officials take part in the opening ceremony of the building, this creates an aura of security around the owner, and everyone believes that he is a well-connected person."
Initial reports by local reporters living abroad indicated that Abdolbaghi had given expensive lands or buildings to some local officials as gift.