Broujerd Clerics March in Protest Against the 'Corruption' of Friday Prayer Leaders

A group of clerics and seminary students from Broujerd in Lorestan province have embarked on a march towards Tehran in protest against the 'corruption' of the city's Friday prayer leader and other Friday prayer leaders across Iran. Two Telegram channels of these protesters, named 'Resistance in Lorestan' and 'Resistance in Broujerd', have been covering the news and images of this march since Thursday, April 6. Several other conservative Telegram channels have also started publishing images, statements, and reports related to this march. In the protesters' statement, Hassan Torabi, the Friday prayer leader of Broujerd, is explicitly referred to as an 'incompetent and unworthy' individual who has 'betrayed the people by trampling on values and promoting corruption and misery in Broujerd for years.' Mr. Torabi is described as one of the 'oppressive claimants' in Lorestan province who is a 'major obstacle to advancing the discourse and achieving the goals of the revolution.' The protesting clerics also stated that 'many Friday prayer leaders across the country, like the current Friday prayer leader of Broujerd, have become agents of corruption and misery.' The statement names Friday prayer leaders from other cities in Iran as 'sponsors and supporters of the powerful and wealthy,' and the protesters declare that 'this situation is intolerable.' The protesting clerics also criticized the 'deadly silence' of the Council for the Policy-Making of Friday Prayer Leaders regarding this matter. They mention 'special institutions' that are unnamed but claim to have no other duty than 'dealing with revolutionary clerics.' The statement notes that these security, supervisory, and even revolutionary institutions have been 'systematically and disgustingly' monitoring clerics and seminary students in the province for years. According to these Telegram channels, these institutions have formed 'over 40 legal cases against revolutionary clerics and students' in recent years. The protesters announced that 'we will not allow the supreme leader of the revolution to bear the responsibility for the negligence of some ignorant appointees.' A 'serious protest' against the 'widespread and systematic corruption' of both clerical and non-clerical officials in Lorestan province is also stated as another goal of this march. Protests against corruption in the Islamic Republic had previously been initiated by a group of clerics and seminary students in Iran, notably Alireza Jahanshahi, known as the 'Sirejani seminary student,' which led to a prison sentence for this protesting cleric. This cleric had begun his sit-ins and marches years ago to combat 'economic corruption' and was arrested along with 14 other students in March 2014. These 15 clerics intended to march 'in protest against the flow of economic corruption and to demand justice in society' from the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh in Qom to the Jamkaran Mosque outside the city, but they were arrested.