Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Calls for Increased Budget for Religious Seminaries

While the allocation of budget to religious institutions has previously sparked protests, Tehran's Friday Prayer Leader has called for an increase in the budget for religious seminaries. According to ISNA news agency, Kazem Sadeghi, the Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran, stated in his sermon on January 12 that 'a significant budget has not been allocated for the cultural sector in the 2018 budget.' He added, 'If we want to promote religion, we must allocate an appropriate budget for religious seminaries and cultural centers.' Sadeghi's remarks come at a time when the allocation of budget to religious seminaries has faced backlash, with some political activists and media figures, as well as certain religious authorities, expressing their objections to these budgets. Reports indicate that over 200 trillion tomans have been allocated to religious seminaries in various sections of the 2018 budget. This includes 42 trillion tomans for supporting religious seminaries and religious science schools, and 35.3 trillion tomans for supporting the education of religious students. Additionally, the Center for Services of Religious Seminaries has defined approximately 29.7 trillion tomans for the insurance premiums of unemployed religious students and 25.3 trillion tomans for the basic social insurance coverage program for students. The upcoming budget also allocates 30.5 trillion tomans for the 'Al-Mustafa International University,' which trains non-Iranian clergy. The publication of the religious seminaries' budget has drawn criticism, including from Ayatollah Yousef Sanei, a Shia cleric in Qom, who described the allocation of budget to religious seminaries as 'a breeding ground for corruption.' He emphasized, 'It is not right to expand the seminaries. Why do we need so many buildings and schools if we keep adding to the seminaries?' Some parts of the budget for religious seminaries in 2018 have increased compared to 2017. For instance, the budget for the Center for Services of Religious Seminaries in Qom has risen from 81.5 trillion tomans in 2017 to 89.7 trillion tomans in 2018, indicating a 10% increase. Political analyst Morteza Kazemian, residing in Paris, wrote in an article about the proposed government budget: 'It is not easy to list the institutions and organizations that consume public budgets for ideological projects; however, it can be noted that the Supreme Council of Religious Seminaries has a budget of 44 trillion tomans. To put this figure into perspective, the budget for Ferdowsi University of Mashhad is 32.7 trillion tomans and for Tabriz University is 25.6 trillion tomans.' Following the details of the 2018 budget being revealed, campaigns have emerged on social media titled 'Change the Budget in Favor of the People,' with some participants calling for a reduction in the budgets of religious seminaries, state media, and military institutions. However, members of parliament have only stated that, contrary to the government's bill, issues such as exit fees and energy prices will not increase. Hassan Rouhani and his government officials have emphasized that these sections of the government bill should not change. Some officials of the Islamic Republic have attributed the recent protests to economic issues and rising prices. This is occurring while protesters in their demonstrations have voiced political slogans against Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, and in support of the Pahlavi family.