Kangavar Seminary Director to Khamenei: Where is the Peak You Show Us? Turning Away from Spirituality is Rampant

Mohammad Taqi Akbarnejad, the director of the Kangavar seminary, in a recent video circulated on social media, criticized Ali Khamenei's behavior and performance regarding domestic issues. He quoted one of the worshippers who lamented that 'Mr. Khamenei is not our leader; he is the leader of the Yemenis and Palestinians' because 'I think he cares more for them than for us.' He continued by stating that the leadership of the Islamic Republic does not react to the dollar's surge from 3,000 tomans to 26,000 tomans and does not say that 'our red line is our people,' but rather 'Palestine' and Yemen are Khamenei's priorities. Akbarnejad mentioned that this individual feels Khamenei reacts to 'the nosebleed of a Palestinian' but does not address the annual deaths of 20,000 Iranians on the country's roads, failing to acknowledge that this issue needs to be resolved. According to him, decisions should not first be made in the 'external space' and then applied to the 'internal space.' Akbarnejad further stated, 'I think the issue is clear; we just need to stop fooling ourselves and open our eyes.' He noted that in Iran, unlike other parts of the world, 'turning away from spirituality is rampant.' The director of the Kangavar seminary continued to criticize the Assembly of Experts, questioning, 'Where is our Experts? Are they dead or alive?' He further asked why the Assembly of Experts does not ask the leadership, 'Explain where this peak you show us is and why this nation does not feel this peak?' Khamenei claimed in a speech this summer, without addressing the numerous problems in the country, that 'we have passed much of the way despite the steep slope and have approached the peaks.' Akbarnejad questioned Khamenei's claim that the Iranian nation has become more religious than in previous years, asking, 'Why do we not see this religiosity [and] only you see it?' Over the past three decades under Khamenei's leadership, the Islamic Republic of Iran has spent billions of dollars to create proxy groups and exacerbate regional instability by providing continuous financial and military support to these groups. Meanwhile, Iran struggles with numerous crises, including economic crisis, poverty, widespread unemployment, rampant inflation, and a historic collapse of the national currency, with the Iranian people suffering from the consequences of Khamenei's foreign policy, including extensive sanctions from Western countries due to the Islamic Republic's military adventures and interventions in the region.