Tehran’s Friday Prayer Leader and a New Claim

Tehran’s Friday Prayer Leader and a New Claim

Following the accusation of land grabbing attributed to Kazem Sadighi, the interim Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran, and his sons who manage the Imam Khomeini Seminary in Tehran, a new statement has been issued admitting to the irregularities and stating that an order has been issued for the return of the land to the seminary.

Previously, Yashar Soltani, an active journalist inside Iran, had claimed by releasing documents that ownership of a 4200-square-meter garden worth approximately one trillion tomans in the Azgol area of Tehran, which belonged to the Imam Khomeini Seminary in Tehran, had been transferred to the non-profit organization Peyrovane Andishehayeh Qaem. The owners of this organization include Kazem Sadighi and some of his sons.

However, the interim Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran has denied the documents related to this transfer and stated that his signature was forged. In television interviews, he had described the transfer of the garden document to his private institution and his sons as a plot by the enemy to discredit him and cause unrest among the people.

However, on Thursday, the Imam Khomeini Seminary in Tehran announced in a statement that Mr. Sadeghi, with trust in a person who has been a trustee of the seminary for years, personally appeared at the office and transferred a portion of the seminary’s land to the mentioned institution and signed the document.

According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, the Imam Khomeini Seminary in Tehran stated in its statement that after being informed of the violations that occurred in falsifying the articles of association and forging the signature, an order was issued to return the land to the seminary, and the administrative procedures are underway, and after finalization, it will be announced.

Earlier, on the 28th of Esfand, this institution had stated in its statements that in this violation case, a one trillion Tomans formal irregularity had occurred, which has been rectified, and the individuals involved have been removed from the institution. The seminary did not specify who these individuals were.

While accusations against Kazem Sadeghi were raised in the final days of the year 1402, images of Ali Khamenei’s Nowruz speech on the 1st of Farvardin showed the temporary Friday Imam of Tehran present in the session with him.

Kazem Sadeghi, 73 years old, who has been in charge of the Office for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice since 2018, is considered a graduate of Haghighani School. In previous years, he held various judicial positions in the Islamic Republic. The case of owning a rose garden in northern Tehran is the latest case of corruption involving high-ranking officials in the Islamic Republic.

The formation of a large economic cartel and the misuse of the father’s name for money laundering by the two children of Mohammad Mosaddegh, former deputy of the Iranian Judiciary, and the transfer of a 150-hectare endowment in Qazvin to Mona Chaichian, the wife of the head of the Endowment Organization, are among these corruptions. The release of their news has been met with widespread reactions. The latest report from the International Transparency Organization shows that Iran ranks 147th among 180 countries in terms of the extent of financial corruption.