Research Report: The Cost of the Islamic Republic's Religious Activities Abroad

The 'Open Data Iran' platform has published a report on the costs of the Islamic Republic's religious and propaganda activities in Iraq. The report, released on Tuesday, August 7, indicates that at least 1,400 billion tomans have been allocated in the budget for 1403 (2024) for expenses in religious cities in Iraq. According to the Open Data Iran website, this amount is approximately equivalent to the daily minimum wage of 6 million Iranian workers, based on the Supreme Labor Council's daily wage of 238,873 tomans. The budget is divided as follows: 1,004 billion tomans for the 'Reconstruction of Holy Shrines Headquarters,' which operates under the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in cities such as Najaf, Karbala, Kadhimayn, Kufa, and Samarra in Iraq; 200 billion tomans for 'assisting the Coordination Committee and Development of Facilities and Services for Arbaeen in Iraq and supporting the Bahr al-Najaf Ashraf Institute'; and 200 billion tomans for 'reconstruction and development of Ayatollah Khomeini's house in Najaf.' The Open Data Iran platform emphasized that due to the lack of financial transparency in religious and propaganda institutions, the exact figure for the overseas activities of these institutions cannot be accurately calculated. Nevertheless, the report indicates that a review of the public budget shows that in addition to the budgets for organizations such as the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization, the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Al-Mustafa International University, and similar institutions focused on activities outside Iran, there are budget lines such as 'support for cultural activities of the Balagh Fund abroad,' 'support for cultural programs of the World Islamic Fiqh Academy (in Saudi Arabia),' and 'Thaqalayn Network (to support cultural and religious activities abroad),' which should ultimately be added to the aforementioned expenses.