Khamenei's Weakness in Addressing Government Corruption

In the final months of 2014, Ali Khamenei made statements regarding the fight against corruption, the problem of smuggled imports, and the unprecedented increase in land grabbing and environmental destruction, which reflect a tone of weakness and inability. First, let’s pay attention to his words and tone in these statements: 1. Land Grabbing: "On the east side of Tehran, there is a large park, a very vast area between Babayi Highway and the heights of Ghochak; it is land belonging to the army... Whenever I go there, my heart trembles! Because I know dozens of greedy eyes are focused on this place. Some actions have started, we stopped them, we raised a warning, we had a dispute; I know they temporarily backed off, but they are waiting for a moment of negligence; either I am not here, or a negligence occurs, eventually they will seize this place; it really makes one tremble; a large park, perhaps several hundred hectares—I don’t know how much it is—originally belonging to the army but now not in use by the army and is a point of contention between the army and the Ministry of Intelligence. In my opinion, this place belongs to the people; it should be turned into a public recreational area. I have repeatedly sent this message to various officials; the municipality should go and seize this place and put it at the disposal of the people. A very vast, pleasant, and green place in east Tehran. I even once saw a herd of deer or mountain goats from a distance; a place like this... If there is negligence, it will end up like some other places [where unfortunately negligence occurred and we saw buildings rise there and claims emerged, and some agencies unfortunately, not out of malice but out of negligence, gave certain lands to their employees, who then sold them to others; these actions and indiscipline unfortunately arise in the realm of lands and in the context of this breathing space of large cities and similar issues have arisen before.]" (March 6, 2015) 2. Corruption: "What miracle is this seminar [National Seminar on Improving the Health of the Administrative System and Combating Corruption] and similar events supposed to perform? Isn’t the situation clear to you, the officials of the three branches? Given the appropriate and hopeful conditions of empathy, coordination, and mutual thinking among the officials, why are decisive and fundamental actions not being taken that everyone can observe the results tangibly?" (December 8, 2014) 3. Smuggling: "Today, the pressure of imports is exhausting the country, and there are very strange figures regarding the amount of smuggled imports into the country." (February 23, 2015) Admission of Shortcomings and Lack of Foresight The above statements have a seemingly worried, accusatory, admonitory, and warning tone, but more than guidance and orders, they carry a complaint along with an expression of inability. Khamenei explicitly states that institutions are ignoring his requests, especially regarding land grabbing, or accuses the heads of the three branches of negligence in the issue of corruption and expresses despair about combating corruption. These remarks, which reflect the government's shortcomings and the leader's weakness in dealing with the forces under his supervision and appointment in the realm of corruption, have been extremely rare during Khamenei's leadership. Khamenei has never wanted to appear weak in front of public opinion, and for this reason, he does not interview any journalists. Particularly, he has followed in Khomeini's footsteps, who was always in the business of "admonishing" officials. Khamenei clearly states regarding corruption that the heads of the three branches cannot do anything, and seminars are merely performative because he knows better than anyone that corruption in the Islamic Republic is structural, systemic, and institutionalized. This statement comes not from a critic of the regime but from someone who holds responsibility. In many cases, Khamenei forgets that he himself bears the greatest responsibility in these matters and is not the opposition to the "system" but is part of it. Regarding smuggling, Khamenei's surprise implies that he believed unauthorized ports would account for a small percentage of imports and that granting some financial capacity to the IRGC would not pose a problem. However, now that the volume of imports from these ports has reached about 50% of the country's imports, he has realized the consequences of his decisions. He knows that the situation cannot be reversed. In the realm of natural resources, the appropriation of national lands began during the war and continued post-war by the IRGC. However, if these appropriations were once for building military bases, they have in the last two decades turned into residential complexes in the mountains and forests. Khamenei, in his remarks about environmental destruction, shows how alert his IRGC-affiliated children have been to exploit opportunities and how much he has acted like wax in their hands. In dealings with military and security forces, Khamenei lacks any foresight in governance and also in maintaining his authority against these forces. Today, not only the three branches but also the forces directly under his command carry out their work (in some cases arbitrarily) and attempt to bypass Khamenei. This does not diminish his responsibility because he himself has sidelined critics and political activists with his policies and has gradually increased the power of military and security forces. The Difficult Task of Complaining About Appointees and Loyalists Of course, while complaining, he does not want to upset the commanders of the IRGC and security forces. He only goes so far as to attribute the actions of some "agencies" (not specifying which agency) in granting public lands to "negligence" and not "malice." How can one not mention those involved in widespread embezzlement, favoritism, nepotism, land grabbing in pleasant areas of Tehran, excessive imports of cosmetics, mobile phones, and clothing to the country, which have yielded billions of dollars in profit? Loyalists to the regime cannot forever buy Khamenei's words on these matters, and the day they no longer benefit from these resources, their voices will be raised. Complaining Against Opportunism First, today all types of corruption from land grabbing and nepotism to favoritism and embezzlement, from smuggling goods to receiving commissions in government contracts are eating away at the legitimacy of the regime among its supporters like termites, and the regime's leaders, who have had to expand corruption or turn a blind eye to it for the sake of preserving the regime and its loyalists, have now become aware of its severe risks. If social movements and factional rivalries could not limit power in Iran, corruption will lead to its collapse. Second, in all three issues, military and security institutions play the primary role, and Khamenei's expression of impotence before them is very telling and meaningful. Military and security institutions see the country as indebted to them because of the war and the government as indebted to them for suppressing political and social movements, and they do not hesitate to exploit and engage in rent-seeking. The leaders of the Islamic Republic have also acknowledged this indebtedness and have funneled national resources toward them as much as they could. The problem with Khamenei's dealings with security and military forces is that they are politically loyal to him, but their expectations are high, and Khamenei does not want to hand over all affairs to them. However, he sees no reason for a hard confrontation with the military and security forces under his supervision. For this reason, their mutual cooperation, while complaining and expressing impotence on one side and seeking to gain more resources on the other, will continue. Third, all three issues of impotence relate to corruption and the plundering of public and state assets for the benefit of specific groups close to the government. Khamenei's words on these matters are merely complaints, and he knows that no change will occur with his orders, and fundamentally, he cannot issue an effective directive in these matters. By expressing impotence in these issues, he shows that wherever the interests of the powerful clash with public interests, the matter has ended in favor of the powerful.