“We must make tough and courageous decisions.” This sentence was expressed by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of Parliament, in a joint session between the Parliament and the government regarding the budget for the year 1401. The decisions that Ghalibaf refers to and some other officials also call “economic surgery” seem inevitable given the economic conditions in Iran. In most countries that have experienced economic crises, austerity programs and contractionary budgets have been formulated. But the problem in Iran is a bit more complicated. The government, by insisting on enriching 20% or even more uranium, advancing in missile programs, and engaging in adventurous regional activities, has pushed the country to the brink of an economic abyss and brought international sanctions upon the people of Iran. The latest example of one of these tough decisions was the three-fold increase in gasoline prices in November 2019, which led to popular protests and ultimately the killing of hundreds of people on the streets and the arrest and imprisonment of thousands

Ebrahim Raisi’s government, which emerged from the most engineered election in the history of the Islamic Republic, presented the budget for the year 1401 to the parliament on Monday, December 12, under conditions where there are still fundamental ambiguities in various aspects of it. The total budget ceiling for the country in the coming year is about 3,631 trillion tomans, of which 2,231 trillion tomans is the budget for state-owned companies and 1,500 trillion tomans is the budget for the government’s general expenses. This is while according to the budget bill for the year 1400, the total budget ceiling for the country was 2,435 trillion tomans, of which 1,540 trillion tomans was the budget for state-owned companies and 861 trillion tomans was the budget for the government’s general expenses. The fate of the preferred exchange rate of 4,200 tomans for essential goods in the budget for the coming year

The budget was like every year.

In the past few decades, due to the growth of the government and large institutions that rely on the country’s public budget, there has always been a budget deficit. In recent years, due to intensified sanctions leading to a decrease in oil sales and non-oil exports, the budget deficit has increased exponentially. Even the first budget of the revolutionary government was not exempt from this rule, and the Parliamentary Research Center has examined the 1401 budget bill in a report titled “Budget in Simple Terms”. According to experts at this center, the budget deficit for 1401 will be between 300 to 600 trillion tomans, and the government of Ebrahim Raisi will face a critical situation in reducing the budget deficit: the first point is that the government cannot significantly reduce its number of employees; the second point is that the main cause of the budget deficit is due to salaries and wages, and funding it through creating money without support leads to severe inflation and greatly reduces the value of the national

Budget overview; against the people and for the benefit of special institutions.

All of this, however, did not result in a more realistic and revolutionary government budget, nor did it lead to any thoughtful measures to reduce the suffering of the people and limit special and sometimes non-existent institutions. The review of the budget figures for 1401 presents a clear outcome to the audience. The budget has been drained in sectors directly related to the daily lives of the people, but has significantly increased in terms of military and propaganda institutions. The noticeable increase in the budget for radio and television, military institutions, and specifically the Revolutionary Guards, as well as the 10-20% increase in government employee salaries and the collection of taxes from certain households and vehicles, can be considered the main topics of the 1401 budget.

The budget of the national broadcasting organization in the year 1401 will be approximately 5,200,000,000,000 tomans. This amount does not include the astronomical revenues from its increasing advertising. Considering that the budget of this organization was around 3,385,000,000,000 tomans in the year 1400, the budget for the year 1401 has seen an increase of more than fifty-five percent.

The budget of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has reached an unprecedented amount of 93 trillion tomans. Considering that the budget of the Guards in 1400 was around 38,565 billion tomans, it has grown by about two and a half times.

According to provisions of the main budget bill, all vehicles with a value of over one billion tomans and residential houses and villas with a value of over ten billion tomans will be subject to property tax.

Considering that the Statistical Center of Iran has announced an annual inflation rate of over forty-four percent in the month of Aban, but according to the 1401 budget bill, the salaries of government employees will only increase between ten to thirteen percent, and even then only in certain cases and by a small amount, which will ultimately result in a decrease in the purchasing power of the people.

Four billion and.

Five hundred.

Millions of euros from oil money for military affairs.

According to clause “Y” of the budget section titled “Oil and its Relations with the Government/National Development Fund”, the government must allocate up to 4.5 billion euros from the income of the National Iranian Oil Company to the armed forces for the purpose of strengthening the defense infrastructure. According to clause “Y” of the first section of the 1401 budget bill, the government is obligated to allocate up to 4.5 billion euros through the National Iranian Oil Company for the purpose of strengthening the defense infrastructure and conducting strategic defense research, based on the notification and allocation of the National Planning and Budget Organization. This includes fulfilling obligations related to defense projects, progress, development, and poverty alleviation through the delivery of crude oil and gas condensates to these individuals at the export price of the National Iranian Oil Company, and settling accounts through public resources and expenditures of the government, in accordance with Table 21 of this law, with the General Treasury of the country. In fact,

Furthermore, according to clause “y” of paragraph 10 of the budget bill for the upcoming year, “in order to increase flight routes and facilitate the passage of international flights through the airspace of the Islamic Republic and increase foreign currency revenues, with the cooperation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the modified flight routes will be increased and the income from this 50% increase in flights will be allocated to the Ministry of Roads and Transportation Fund and 50% to the General Staff of the Armed Forces.”

In continuation of this clause of the bill, the Ministry of Defense and Support of the Armed Forces is allowed to use one billion euros from the crude oil and gas condensate allocation, through refining in non-governmental refineries that have taken steps to increase their production capacity, after approval by the country’s Planning and Budget Organization. The equivalent of the products resulting from the implementation of this clause will be available for export to the armed forces. The executive regulations of this clause, proposed by the Planning and Budget Organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Oil, Economic Affairs and Finance, and Defense and Support of the Armed Forces, will be prepared and approved by the Council of Ministers.

New military institutions that receive budget for advertising.

In the 1401 budget proposal, the “Baqiyatallah Cultural-Social Base” has also been listed; a base that is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and its commander is directly appointed by the leader of the Islamic Republic. In April 2019, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the former commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, was appointed as the commander of this base by a decree. In the budget proposal, a budget of 200 billion tomans has been allocated for the Baqiyatallah Cultural-Social Base; however, according to the proposal, this budget is only for “supporting and assisting cultural and social institutions”. In the explanation of this line item, it has also been emphasized that the share of each of these two institutions from this 200 billion tomans should be “equal”. It is not clear whether there is a separate line item for the Baqiyatallah Base in the budget or not; because some line items do not appear in the

Growth in the budget of the Martyrs Foundation.‌

More than the environment.

The budget of the Martyrs Foundation and Veterans Affairs has also increased by about 76% in the 1401 budget. Based on this, the budget of the Environmental Organization has increased by 23%.

The approved budget for the Martyrs Foundation and Veterans Affairs in 1400 (2021-2022) was more than 30 trillion tomans. In the proposed budget of the 13th government, the proposed budget for this foundation has reached 48 trillion and 143 billion tomans.

In addition, according to paragraph (y) of clause 7 titled “Industry, Mining, and Communications”, the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade is obligated to sell cars to disabled veterans with physical and mobility limitations and veterans with a disability rate of 50% to 70% through its car manufacturing companies, Iran Khodro and Saipa, from their national products. This will be done through a five-year installment plan, with the introduction of the Martyr Foundation and Veterans Affairs.

The president’s mercy towards his institution.

In the year 1400, the budget of the Presidential Institution was approximately 500 trillion tomans, which increased to 1483 trillion tomans in the 1401 budget with the addition of two important items to the budget section. This figure shows an increase of more than two and a half times. Part of this budget will be allocated to the provincial trips of the Prime Minister.

Giving free land to law enforcement and Basij forces.

One of the items listed in the summary budget tables for the main and subsidiary agencies in this bill is related to the “General Command of Law Enforcement of the Islamic Republic of Iran” with a total proposed budget of 43,237,116,500,000 Rials. The share of law enforcement forces in the current year’s (1400) budget bill was 27,262,804,000,000 Rials.

The 1401 budget bill has obligated the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to provide free land for the construction of barracks, police stations, resistance zone bases, and cultural and sports halls for Basij centers to responsible centers in Mehr housing projects, National housing projects, and urban revitalization projects in underprivileged areas. This is mentioned in section “C”, footnote 11 of the budget bill for the upcoming year.

Astronomical budget of seminaries.

Like all four decades in the past, one of the budget items for the coming year is the budget for seminaries. The budget of the Supreme Council of Seminaries has increased by 64,400 percent compared to 1983. The total budget allocated for seminaries is more than 4,694 billion tomans, which is divided among the Supreme Council of Seminaries (1,718 billion tomans), the Planning and Management Council of Khorasan Seminaries (168 billion tomans), and the Center for Services of Seminaries (2,800 billion tomans). The budget for seminaries in 2022 is higher than the total budget allocated to three provinces of North Khorasan, South Khorasan, and Ilam.

Significant increase in ideological and cyber operations budgets.

In the budget plan for the coming year, almost all government institutions and ministries will receive funding for what is referred to as “clarification and promotion of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution or religious research.” This budget item is not related to the nature and specialized field of some ministries and institutions. For example, the Organization for Planning and Budget will receive over 62 billion tomans for the implementation of the program for clarification and promotion of the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, and 14.5 billion tomans for the implementation of religious, scientific, and applied research programs. In the same vein, the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces will receive over 30 billion tomans and 107 billion tomans respectively for providing cultural and ideological services. The Ministry of Intelligence, which is pursuing programs under the title of “strengthening peace, stability, and security in regional and international arenas,” will receive 100 billion tomans for this project.

A budget of 216.5 billion tomans has been allocated for the Revolutionary Guards to implement cultural and ideological programs. In the upcoming budget, the Cyber Guards will also receive a significant amount. The government has allocated over 37.5 billion tomans for the Revolutionary Guards in the rial budget for the management of virtual space and “confronting enemy cyber actions”. The budget of 437 billion tomans for the implementation of the program “cyber and electronic warfare development” should also be allocated under the budget of the Cyber Guards.

“Yodjehi Basij, every year more than last year.”

Basij, a force that is actually affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards; but alongside it, every institution has also formed a section within itself called Basij and receives a budget for it. In the budget of 1401, the title “Basij” has been successful in receiving a considerable budget in all government institutions. The Ministry of Defense has allocated a budget of 41.7 billion tomans for the program to support the Basij fund. The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution must also pay close to 40 billion tomans from the total budget received for the program “Support for Quranic activities and cultural and artistic centers of mosques and Basij neighborhoods.” The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has also predicted a budget of 186 billion dollars for the purpose of “supporting Quranic activities and cultural and artistic centers of mosques and Basij neighborhoods.” The Ministry of Science has also taken a budget of over 67 billion tomans in a plan called “Support for the religious, cultural

All of this while the Sepah (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) has received over 2,744 billion tomans for a project titled “For the Management of Basij Affairs” and 212 billion tomans for the program “Strengthening the Defense and Security Infrastructure of Basij” separately from the rial budget. Sepah has also allocated a suitable budget to Basij from the euro budget provided through the Ministry of Oil. Sepah has received a separate budget of 1.8 million euros for Basij from the “Defense Infrastructure” budget and 42.7 million euros for foreign currency budget to strengthen the defense and security infrastructure of Basij.

The plan for youth and support for families, a new budget proposal.

Emphasizing on childbearing and increasing population has been one of the key phrases of recent months for the officials of the Islamic Republic. In this regard, a plan was also passed in the parliament which caused a lot of controversies. Now, according to the budget bill, this plan will receive a huge amount of funding; figures that are contradictory; ranging from 12 to 19 trillion tomans. According to table 9 of the budget bill, a budget of 12 trillion tomans has been allocated for the “Implementation of the Law on Family and Youth Population Support”; and under the Ministry of Health’s budget, in table 7, there is a budget of 2 trillion and 359 billion and 474 million and 300 thousand tomans allocated for “Management and Implementation of the Law on Family and Youth Population Support”.

This comes while just a few days ago, Mohammad Hassan Asefri, the representative of Arak in the parliament, said, “Considering the resolutions that the parliament has approved as the Population and Family Excellence Plan, nineteen trillion tomans have been allocated in this area, and we hope that this important matter will be implemented.”

Islamic Advertising Organization and Remarkable Budget Increase.

The budget of the Islamic Advertising Organization has increased from 726 billion tomans in 1400 to 1,534,276 million tomans in the coming year. Interestingly, the duties of the organization, according to the laws and regulations of the higher authorities, overlap with the Office of Islamic Advertising in Qom, the Organization of Culture and Islamic Communications, the Supreme Council of Seminaries, the Center for Services of Seminaries, the Fund for Development of Quranic Culture, the Policy Council of Sister Seminaries, the International Society of Mustafa al-Alami, the Organization of Endowments and Charitable Affairs, and the Institute of Wisdom and Philosophy of Iran. In simpler terms, these organizations are practically expected to do the same tasks, but in the budget of 1401, they each have a separate budget line.

Budgets that melt the people.

“Organizations and figures that receive budget and their performance goes far beyond slogans and advertisements, are much more than what is published in this report. This is just a sample of the chaos. After the publication of the details of the 1401 budget bill, the Islamic Republic newspaper wrote in a note on the 9th of Dey month: “Many economists believe that this budget not only does not go through the process of healing the country’s economy, but also means driving a wedge into the heart of Iran’s economy and the livelihood of its people, whose breaths are under the maximum pressure and their patience against the policies of officials, accompanied by trials and errors, has reached its limit.” This newspaper, which is selected by the leader of the Islamic Republic, added about the consequences of this bill: “Members of parliament should be warned to use wisdom and insight in reforming the substance and structure of budgets, which can turn into disasters and have significant social and security consequences.”

In various dimensions, this bill has been used as an excuse for the country’s shortage of foreign income and budget deficits, wherever there were conditions that would benefit the people, especially the weaker class, it has been eliminated or reduced, while the budget for military, propaganda, and religious institutions has greatly increased.