Poll: Banks, Courts, and Municipalities are the Most Corrupt Institutions in Iran

The latest results from the 'iPaz' institute's survey indicate that the people of Iran believe that 'corruption' has 'expanded' in the country, with banks, courts, and municipalities being considered the 'most corrupt' institutions in the Islamic Republic. The survey, conducted from October 4 to 16, 2015, was made available on the iPaz institute's website on Wednesday, January 30. 77% of participants in this survey stated that they consider banks to be 'very corrupt, corrupt, or somewhat corrupt.' The survey also revealed that after banks, courts and judiciary, along with municipalities, are viewed as the 'most corrupt' institutions by 63% of participants. The Iranian police ranked third with 55%, followed by the Civil Registration Organization at 53%. Hospitals were recognized as the fifth most corrupt institution by 52% of participants, and city councils by 50%. Another interesting result pertains to traffic police, which was identified as the eighth most corrupt institution with 48% of votes. Universities received 46%, the Environmental Organization 22%, the Foundation of the Oppressed 24%, the IRGC 30%, Education 30%, and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation 32% in subsequent rankings. The survey also shows that 71% of respondents believe corruption in Iran has become 'widespread or somewhat widespread.' 68% emphasized that corruption 'has increased or significantly increased in Iran over the past five years.' They also believe that the average level of corruption in society is 60 out of 100. Another section of the survey evaluated Iranians' outlook on the next five years, with 83% of individuals over 60 believing that corruption will decrease in the next five years. In contrast, individuals aged 18 to 29 are more pessimistic about the future, with 57% stating that corruption will increase in Iran over the next five years. The survey also indicates that about 54% of Iranians believe that after the nuclear agreement, officials will pay more attention to fighting corruption. Factors deterring corruption in Iran formed another focus of the survey, with 96% of participants considering 'heavy and appropriate punishments' as the most important deterrent. Following punishments, other deterrent factors include ethics (91%), enforcement of existing laws (90%), existence of appropriate laws (89%), suitable economic conditions (89%), and media oversight (79%). The survey also ranks Iran's corruption level among 150 countries at 80, which is above the median of this ranking (theoretically equivalent to 75). According to the survey results, only about 14% of respondents follow news and information related to corruption to a high or very high extent, while about two-thirds (68%) do not follow such news at all. Among those who follow corruption-related news to varying degrees, state media is the primary source with 35%. Following state media, word of mouth (27%) and the internet (19%) are other sources for tracking corruption-related news. Newspapers (12%) and satellite (7%) follow in the rankings. The overall results of this survey, reflecting the opinions of over 1,500 people in Iran, closely relate to comments, reports, and official and semi-official documents from government officials regarding the level of corruption in Iran. Some members of parliament, such as Ahmad Tavakoli, have repeatedly spoken in the past year about the 'systematic' nature of corruption in the Islamic Republic and the 'corruption' of oversight systems. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the Minister of Justice, is another judicial and oversight official who has reported the existence of numerous 'financial corruption' cases in Iran that have not been covered by the media. Statistics on corruption in Iran and the extent of contamination of state institutions are never published, and the results of many investigative projects regarding these institutions are not made available to the public by parliament. The General Inspection Organization is one of the most important oversight bodies in Iran that has yet to publish its reports and documents regarding the level of corruption in Iran, particularly in official institutions. The iPaz institute's survey is one of the few surveys conducted on the level of corruption in governmental and state institutions that has been published in recent years.