Research Report; Clerics in Power According to Statistics

Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, stated before the 1979 revolution that he had 'no interest in political power', yet after the revolution's victory, clerics gradually seized the executive power of the country. The Open Data Iran database reported on February 10 that since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran, a total of 18 individuals have held the presidency of the three branches of government, with over 70% of them (13 individuals) being clerics. The statistics regarding the number of representatives in the 11 terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly also indicate that, on average, 23% of the representatives are clerics. The highest presence of clerics in the Assembly was during the second term at 56%, followed by the first term with 49% and the third term with 31%. The lowest presence of clerics in the Assembly was in the tenth term with 5% and the sixth term with 11%. At the ministerial level, the presence of clerics in various governments has averaged 10%. In the first government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and the first government of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, there were 4 clerical ministers, and in the first government of Mohammad Khatami, there were 5 clerical ministers. High-ranking positions in the Islamic Republic are not limited to the aforementioned cases, and to assess the share of clerics in power, institutions such as the Assembly of Experts, the Guardian Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution must also be considered. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic allocates a 50% share of the seats in the Guardian Council to clerics and a 100% share of the seats in the Assembly of Experts. According to the Open Data Iran report, 52 individuals have been appointed to the Guardian Council over various periods, of which 25 have been clerics. In the case of the Expediency Discernment Council, which consists of a combination of real and legal members appointed by the Supreme Leader, the percentage of clerics has ranged from 35% to 90% in all periods. Regarding the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, which legislates on cultural, social, and educational matters, currently, more than one-third of the seats are held by clerics. The Coordination Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran has warned about the consequences of the presence of clerics in schools. Students are entering the medical field; there are 2,000 'student psychologists' in the country. Efforts to 'Islamize the economy'; a working group has been formed in various fields following the collaboration between the seminary and the Ministry of Economy. From clerical violence to murder; a religious authority warns that the increasing distrust of the people towards clerics will have dire consequences.