Kazem Seddiqi, Tehran's temporary Friday Prayers Imam, and his sons have been accused by a local journalist of having acquired several thousand square meters of prime real estate in the Iranian capital's northern districts, which he denies.
According to documents published by Iranian journalist Yashar Soltani, Seddiqi and his children acquired of a lush 4,200 square meter garden in Tehran's Ozgol area.
Soltani's research appears to show that around two decades ago, Seddiqi laid the foundations for the Ozgol Seminary on an expansive 20,000 square meter site near Tajrish, a significant portion of which was under the stewardship of the Endowments Organization and Tehran Municipality, a semigovernmental body in Iran responsible for overseeing all endowments that do not have a designated guardian.
The documents appear to further show that in 2022, a section of the land measuring 4,200 square meters was transferred to a company allegedly owned by Seddiqi and his two sons, Mohammad Mehdi and Mohammad Hossein.
Seddiqi has rejected the accusations claiming signatures on the documentation are forged and that a trusted associate had fraudulently registered the institution under his name without his consent.
In his most recent public appearance during Friday Prayers on March 16, Seddiqi lauded the "financial discipline" of President Ebrahim Raisi's administration while chastising “the wealthy” for their electoral apathy with record-low turnout in elections on March 1 for a new parliament, or Majlis, and a new Assembly of Experts.
Seddiqi has come under fire from political figures, media personalities aligned with reformers, and even some government allies who are skeptical of his insistence that the land was appropriated unbeknownst to him.
The delay in Seddiqi's rebuttal to the forgery allegations has fueled further speculation and demands for his resignation or dismissal on grounds of either malfeasance or incompetence. Additionally, there are calls for a thorough investigation of the matter.
Friday Prayer leaders across all Iranian cities are appointed by the supreme leader of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and hold substantial influence.
In recent years, numerous figures closely linked to the supreme leader have been embroiled in scandals involving financial corruption. Though some have faced trials, the effectiveness of these legal proceedings and the subsequent enforcement of their sentences have been met with skepticism.
In one high-profile case, Akbar Tabari, a former senior official within Iran's judiciary, was released from prison in June 2023 after serving less than three years of a 58-year sentence for financial corruption.
Iran is among the world's most corrupt nations, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 149 out of 180 countries in its 2023 Corruption Perception Index.