The budget of Iran’s religious institutions for 2021-2022 has increased dramatically, while the budget of development, livelihoods, medical, welfare, has not much to say.
In the final days of Iran’s calendar year when parliament is preparing the budget bill, some rows of budget attract attention for their increase in funds over the rest.
The budget for religious institutions and organizations, which advance the ideological purposes of clerical rule and the regime’s supreme leader, are significant.
While use of these institutions and their benefits are unclear for the Iranian people, comparing their figures with the budget of other institutions and organizations that directly communicate with the livelihoods and lives of Iranian citizens has some surprising results.
Increased funds for 43 religious institutions
According to the state-run Tejarat News website, 43 religious institutions will receive a budget of 7.252 trillion tomans in 2021-2022.
Meanwhile, the “Seminary Services Center” budget has increased by about 25 percent from 779 billion tomans in 2020 to 1 trillion tomans in 2021-2022.
– The budget of the “Policy Council of the Sisters Seminaries ” has increased by 24 percent from 260 billion tomans to 325 billion tomans.
– The budget of the “Islamic Propaganda Office of Qom” has increased by 37 percent from 150 billion in 2020 to 205 billion in 2021.
– The budget of the Khorasan Seminary Planning Council has increased by 25 percent from 117 billion tomans to 147 billion tomans.
Increasing the Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences
Also, the Budget of the Computer Research Center of Islamic Sciences has increased by 67 percent over the current year and has gone from 15 billion to 25 billion tomans.
– The budget of the Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation has increased by 55 percent from 9 billion tomans to 14 billion tomans.
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– The Research and Cultural Institute of Islamic Revolution budget has increased by 34 percent from 31 billion tomans to 41.8 billion tomans.
The other institution of the “University of Science and Education of Qur’an”, with an increase of 49 percent, increased from 30 billion tomans in 2020 to 44.5 billion tomans in 2021.
Islamic World Citation Base
Similarly, the “Islamic World Citation Base” budget with a 39 percent increase from 6.4 billion reached 8.9 billion tomans.
– The budget of the “Islamic advertising coordination council” with a 20 percent increase from 63 billion tomans in 2020 reached 75 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “Islamic Culture and Communication Organization” with a 43 percent increase from 230 billion in 2020, reached 330 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “Khomeini Publishing Institute” with a 30 percent increase from 26 billion tomans in 2020, reached 34.5 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “World Islamic Community” with an increase of 35 percent from 32 billion tomans in 2020 reached 43 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “Global Assembly of Ahl-e-Bayt” with a 50 percent increase from 50 billion tomans in 2020 to 75 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “Khomeini Research Institute of the Islamic Revolution” with a 26 percent increase from 9.5 billion tomans in 2020 to 12 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget of the “University of Ahl-e-Bayt” with a 36 percent increase of 13 billion tomans in 2020 to 18 billion tomans in 2021.
– The budget for Khomeini’s grave has had a 30 percent increase from 14 billion to 18 billion tomans in 2021.
Increasing the Budget of Khomeini Education and Research Institute
To this list of an unbelievable resource waste, we must add the increase by 20 percent of the “Khomeini Education and Research Institute” from 19 billion to 23.5 billion tomans.
– 33 percent increase in the budget of the “Islamic Promotion Organization”, from 270 billion to 361 billion tomans.
– A 24 percent increase in the “Islamic culture and thought research institute” budget from 22.7 billion to 28.3 billion tomans.
– 20 percent increase in the “Friday Imam Policy Council” from 29.5 billion tomans to 35.3 billion tomans.
– Increasing the budget by 30 percent of the “Mosque Affairs Center” from 31 billion tomans to 40 billion tomans.
– Increasing the budget by 31 percent of the “prayer headquarters” from 16 billion to 21 billion tomans.
In addition, the budget of the “Islamic Jurisprudence Institute” with an increase of 34 percent from 5 billion to 6.7 billion tomans.
– The budget for the “Representation of the Velayat-e-Faghih in Hajj and Pilgrimage” with an increase of 150 percent from 2 billion to 5 billion tomans.
– The budget of “The staff of promote virtue and prevent vice” with an increase of 12 percent from 31.5 billion to 35.4 billion tomans.
– The budget of the “University of Islamic religions” with an increase of 35 percent from 24 billion to 33 billion tomans.
– The “Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution” with an increase of 23 percent from 56 billion to 69 billion tomans.
– The budget of the “Islamic Education University”, with an increase of 42 percent from 10 billion to 14.5 billion tomans.
– The budget of the “Art of the Islamic Promotion Organization”, with an increase of 34 percent from 87.5 billion to 118 billion tomans.
– And the “Iranian Islamic Model Center of Progress” budget has increased by 21 percent from 7 to 8.5 billion tomans.
Comparison of religious fundamental funds with country institution
But other parts of the budget bill which are more important for the life of the people have not made such gains. For example, the budget for the “Clean Air Environment Law” under the “environmental budget” does not reach even 1 billion tomans.
Or the budget of the Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology are less than most of the above items, while their budgets are two times less than most of them.
Of course, these religious institutions receive significant budgets below other rows such as research, which have not been included here.
Meanwhile, to understand the disaster in configuring the budget in this regime, perhaps it is enough to refer to the “crisis management headquarters” budget, which is only 13.7 billion tomans, while in recent years, the country has always been involved in many crises, such as floods and earthquakes.
But surprisingly, Alireza Zakani, the head of the Islamic Research Center, called the budget of the institutions and religious centers and dependent on government “unjust and negligible.”
