Enhancement of Islamic Ethics and Culture with a Budget of 22 Trillion Tomans

Investigations by Iran's open data database indicate that although a separate line item for content production in cyberspace has not been defined in the 2023 budget law, paragraph "h" of note 9 mandates state-owned companies, banks, and profit-making institutions affiliated with the government to allocate one percent of their costs to the "enhancement of Islamic ethics and culture." This includes "cultural content production in cyberspace," "Quranic subjects," and "youth population issues." Given that the total budget for state-owned companies, banks, and institutions in the government's proposed bill for 2023 is set at 2211 trillion tomans, one percent of this amounts to 22 trillion tomans. Thus, an amount more than three times the budget of the Red Crescent, seven times the budget of Tehran University, twenty times the budget of the Pasteur Institute, and forty-five times the budget of the National Library and Archives has been allocated to the enhancement of Islamic ethics and culture, the exact usage of which is not clearly defined. This is while another unspecified portion of the budget of government agencies is also spent under the same title. For example, in the 2023 budget law, 1300 billion tomans have also been allocated for "cultural and promotional projects" to the Supreme Council of the Islamic Seminaries of the country. Additionally, 600 billion tomans have been allocated for "content production in cyberspace" to five religious advertising institutions (IRIB, Islamic Propagation Organization, Office of Islamic Propagation of Qom Seminary, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and the Foundation for the Preservation of Sacred Defense Values).