Tehran City Council Chairman Reports 'Epidemic of Corruption' and 'Formation of 26,000 Violation Cases'

Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Chairman of the Tehran City Council, announced the formation of 26,000 violation cases in the municipality's Article 100 Commission over the past two years. In an interview with ISNA on Tuesday, July 9, he identified 'violations in construction and change of land use' as some of the corruption issues in Tehran's municipality. According to Hashemi, these violations covered approximately five million square meters. He further explained that 'this corruption has become an epidemic in all cities of Iran, as municipalities, due to a lack of liquidity, can convert construction violations into money through Article 100, and for this reason, they do not seriously address the issue of correcting construction violations.' The Article 100 Commission has a legal personality separate from the municipality and is one of the specialized authorities outside the judiciary. Representatives from the Ministry of Interior, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and the municipality are members of this commission, which is responsible for addressing construction operations without permits or contrary to permits according to Article 100 of the Municipalities Law. The Chairman of the Tehran City Council emphasized that 'if 20% of the major violations, which constitute 80% of the financial value of the violations, are addressed, significant financial resources will be provided for the city, and we will also witness a reduction in violations in this area.' A few days prior, Hashemi had commented on the 'Holding Yas' case and the arrest of Eisa Sharifi, the deputy of former Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, stating that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran had appointed Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, to investigate the case of '10 trillion tomans in financial corruption.' According to Hashemi, five individuals have been arrested in connection with this case. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, had announced two days earlier the commencement of investigations into the charges against the defendants in this case at the military prosecutor's office. Ali Motahari, the second deputy of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, confirmed last October in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde the arrest of several senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on charges of financial and economic corruption. Mohsen Hashemi also mentioned 'change of land use' and 'bribery' as other forms of corruption in the municipality, stating that 'the relationship between employees and clients to expedite affairs' creates a basis for this corruption. Mohammad Ali Najafi, the former mayor of Tehran, who resigned after a seven-month term in January 2018, accused the former mayor and managers of this institution of issues such as 'spending the municipality's budget on presidential elections,' 'sudden hiring of 13,000 people on the eve of elections,' 'betrayal in the employees' savings fund,' and 'arbitrary allocation of 674 properties.' He also reported sending 12 cases of violations and economic corruption to the judiciary for investigation, which Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary spokesman, denied, emphasizing that only one case has been sent to the judiciary and is under investigation. The municipality is typically among the institutions that rank highest in surveys and polls regarding public dissatisfaction with their performance.