While Iranians can hardly make ends meet, a leaked letter shows how the ruling theocracy uses the national wealth to renovate and expand the house of its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in Mashhad.
The documents, obtained by the dissident group “Ghiyam ta Sarnegouni” during its infiltration of the regime’s presidential servers and sites, also indicate how vast amounts of money are squandered on the regime’s malign activities under the banner of supporting “knowledge-based companies.”
While the regime propagates a facade of modesty and austereness, the reality tells a different story. Document N. 1 provides damning evidence of the Islamic Revolution Cultural Research Institute shamelessly demanding exorbitant funds for the lavish renovation of Khamenei’s opulent residence in Mashhad. This blatant display of excess and indulgence is an affront to the Iranian people, who suffer under the regime’s repressive rule and dire economic conditions.
Adding insult to injury, Document N. 2 reveals Ebrahim Raisi’s role in the matter, as his office actively advocates for allocating even more funds towards the expansion and renovation of Khamenei’s luxurious abode.
Furthermore, the leaked correspondence exposes the regime’s misplaced priorities, as it shamelessly redirects vital national funds to fulfill the whims of a self-serving elite. This revelation serves as a stark reminder of the regime’s true nature—an oppressive and corrupt system that prioritizes its own self-interest over the well-being of its people.
The full translated text of these letters is below:
Document N. 1: Letter by the regime’s Islamic Revolution Cultural Research Institute demanding money to renovate Khamenei’s house in Mashhad.
Islamic Revolution Cultural Research Institute
Preserving and publishing the works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei
In the name of God
Number: 17957/p
Dates: December 6, 2022
Confidential
urgent
Dear Mr. Engineer Mansouri
Respected Executive Vice President and Head of the Presidential Institution,
Greetings and regards. Regarding the approved validity of the provincial visit of the President of the Republic to Khorasan Razavi province regarding the “development and furnishing of the residence of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution on Sarshor Street in Mashhad” – House of the Islamic Revolution – based on Article 75 of the Public Accounts Law of the country, please indicate the amount of 150 billion rials for the completion and operation of this place. The credit should be sent to the “Cultural Research Institute of the Islamic Revolution” with device ID 114300.
Asset acquisition account number: 4101108754413647
Expense account number: 4101087531101787
Thank you in advance for your care and assistance.
Cultural Research Institute
Faith Atfarzadeh
Deputy Coordinator and Head of the Directorate
Office of Preservation and Publication of the Works of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei
Document N. 2: A letter by Raisi’s office to Massoud Mirkazemi, head of the Planning and Budget Organization, demanding funds for the expansion and renovation of Khamenei’s house in Mashhad
Executive Vice President and Head of the Institution
Presidential Office
Islamic Republic of Iran
No. 48887/M
Date: December 13, 2022
Confidential
Dear Mr. Mirkazmi,
Honorable Vice President and Head of the country’s Planning and Budget organization,
Greetings. Respectfully, in line with the approval of the visit of the honorable President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Khorasan Razavi province, the picture of the correspondence of the Cultural Research Institute of the Islamic Revolution is attached. Please order that amount of 150 billion [rials] be transferred to the Islamic Revolution Cultural Research Institute for the completion and operation of this place.
Mohsen Mansouri
Document N. 3: Raisi’s Letter to Khamenei
Islamic Republic of Iran
Office of the President
Document number: 8154/M
Date: May 8, 2023
Confidential
In the name of God
To the great leader of the Islamic Revolution
Grand Ayatollah Imam Khamenei
With greetings:
Respectfully, as you mentioned, the “Innovation and Prosperity Fund” was established according to the “Law on the Protection of Knowledge-Based Companies and Institutions and the Commercialization of Innovations and Inventions – Approved by the Islamic Council of 2010.” This fund aims to help the commercialization of innovations and advanced technologies by providing facilities to knowledge-based companies and institutions.
The fund was established with an initial capital of three thousand billion tomans [30 trillion rials or roughly $60 million] from the National Development Fund. Currently, this fund is known as the main innovation financing institution in the country. In the last four years, it has provided credit services to knowledge-based companies amounting to 28 thousand billion tomans (about ten times the paid capital). Meanwhile, the number of knowledge-based companies has reached more than 7500 companies with a growth of more than two times in this period. The amount of the fund’s capital has remained unchanged in rials compared to its establishment, and its value has shrunk by almost thirty times compared to the fixed rate on the day of its establishment. In the legal article mentioned at the beginning of the text, the allocation of half percent of the annual budget resources to increase the fund’s capital and strengthen it is predicted. Unfortunately, the percentage of their realization was close to zero in the 11th and 12th governments. In January 2023, the capital increase of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund to 100,000 billion people was approved by the Steering Council of Knowledge-Based Technologies and Productions.
The government determines to use all its power to achieve this goal; however, the fund’s funding is delayed to such an extent that providing its resources from the government’s general budget is very time-consuming and slow. Considering the role of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund in mobilizing the financial power of banks and the capital market, as well as creating attraction for attracting people’s capital in the
knowledge-based field, we request, if deemed necessary, the necessary permission to help increase the fund’s capital by at least one billion dollars in order to increase the efficiency of the fund’s support for the activities of knowledge-based companies. This will also create the necessary incentives to attract elites as the main link of the dynamic and effective formation of the country’s ecosystem and knowledge-based sector. We propose allocating funds from the National Development Fund.
I pray for your health and long life with the blessing of the Almighty God
Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi
Transcript:
Honorable Dr. Dehghani Firouzabadi,
Vice President for Science and Technology