Open Data Iran Reports on Statistical Falsification by the Central Headquarters of the Noor Pilgrimage

The Central Headquarters of the Noor Pilgrimage is an institution under the Foundation for the Preservation of Sacred Defense Values, responsible for planning and organizing visits to the war zones of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, and publishes statistics on so-called 'pilgrimages' and 'pilgrims' to these areas each year. Open Data Iran has released a report on the latest statistics provided by this headquarters. In this report, Open Data Iran refers to another report published in August 2023, which analyzed data from five years prior and demonstrated that the statistics from the Noor Pilgrimage Headquarters were not only illogical compared to other statistics but were clearly fabricated based on a 'fixed coefficient.' The report then states that in the 2022 statistical yearbook, published by the Iranian Statistical Center on April 4, 2023, the issue of the 'fixed coefficient' has been resolved, but the numbers are still not based on reality; instead, they are calculated and rounded based on coefficients that only differ in ratio from previous years. Another issue is that on page 739 of the 2022 statistical yearbook, the sum of the numbers in some columns and rows does not match, and in some rows, the total number of male and female participants is also inaccurate. For this reason, it appears that this year, the statistics from this headquarters have also been prepared based on hypothetical coefficients, rounding their decimal figures. Another notable point in this data is the presence of 3 million and 423 thousand individuals in the Noor Pilgrimage trips, which seems to be a very large and illogical number compared to other statistics. In the 2022 statistical yearbook, the total number of intercity travelers transported by bus across Iran was just over 48 million. Thus, considering the claimed figure by the Noor Pilgrimage Headquarters, 7% of the total travelers in Iran participated in Noor Pilgrimage trips to collective areas, which is highly illogical and unbelievable. In contrast to the 'Child Rights' convention, the Islamic Republic puts children at risk with 'Noor Pilgrimage.' Major General Baqeri expressed hope for the resumption of 'Noor Pilgrimage' camps. The Noor Pilgrimage caravan and Iran's bloody roads. The flood crisis in Iran; the share of religious institutions in the 1998 budget is several times that of the Crisis Management Organization.