Baghdad Post, January 14, 2018 – Tehran’s Friday prayer leader has demanded more money from the government for Shia seminaries in Iran, while many believe boosting allocations to religious foundations in Iran’s President Rouhani’s newly proposed budget was one of the factors that triggered recent widespread protests in the country.
“The budget allocated to the cultural sector is not significant. If we are going to promote and spread religion [Shiism], we should earmark an appropriate budget for the Shia seminaries and cultural centers”, mid-ranking clergy, Kazem Sadighi said.
Tehran’s Friday prayer Leader has demanded a larger bulk of Iran’s budget for the seminaries at a time that conservative opponents of Rouhani have blamed him for “mischievously” publicizing the details concerning governmental budget allocated to the fast-growing tax-exempt religious schools and a potpourri of Shiism institutions across Iran.
Responding to his conservative opponents, Rouhani said it was a step forward for transparency to table government’s financial assistance to the institutions supervised directly by the Mullah’s regime leader Khamenei.
Rouhani’s proposed budget, for the first time in the Iranian Republic’s history, highlights government’s financial support for such institutions in detail.
Immediately after the new budget bill was published, many campaigns were launched on social media under the banner of “Changing the Budget in Favor of the People”, calling for less money to institutions and entities under the direct supervision of Khamenei.
The proposed budget while boosting allocations to these institutions, reduced subsidies for fuel and other necessities, which also enraged the people.
A huge increase for religious institutions, more than 10% compared to the previous fiscal year, angered many ordinary citizens right before they poured into the streets on December 28, to protest rising prices, unemployment, systematic financial corruption, and unemployment.
The following are some of the examples of funds allocated to ideological entities:
$110 million for the High Council of Religious Seminaries, which oversees all religious seminaries in the country and issues permits for the establishment of new schools, among other things. Its budget shows an increase of more than 16 percent compared to the previous year.
$105 million for “supporting religious seminaries.” From that amount, $88 million will be allocated to training male clergymen and $16 million for “cultural and promotional activities” by male students of religious seminaries.
$5 million for supporting religious “research activities” by seminary students.
$150 million for the Service Center for Religious Seminaries, a welfare institution that provides support to retired and disabled clergymen and the families of the deceased clergy. The institution also pays scholarships for religious seminaries and funds cultural and sports activities for students.
$75 million is allocated for Al-Mustafa International University, an umbrella organization for religious seminaries providing education to foreign students of Shiism, within and outside of Iran. This institution is also used for expanding influence abroad
