Friday Prayers in Iran: Developments in Bahrain and salary scandal

This week, Friday prayers across Iran revolved around two key subjects: the Bahraini government's decision to strip of citizenship the leading Shia cleric in this Persian Gulf Island, Sheikh Isa Qassim, and the scandal over astronomical payments and salaries received by a number of senior bank officials in Iran.

In Tehran, Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi slammed the Bahraini government for stripping the Shia leader of his nationality, comparing this to measures taken by Iran's last king. "The more the Shah committed injustice, the more troubled he became, and he finally had to run away" he said. "A similar fate awaits the Al Khalifa."
 

In Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda called the decision by Manama a Saudi-induced reaction to military advances by the Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Fallujah, Iraq and revenge against the Shia community. Similar remarks were made by Mohammad-Ali Mousawi Djzayeri in Ahwaz, center of Khuzestan Province: "We believe the insult against Sheikh Isa Qassim by the Al Khalifa regime is supported by the Wahhabi regime of the Al Saud" said the Friday prayers' leader of the city. In Tabriz, Eastern Azerbaijan, Ayatollah Mohsen Mojtahed-Shabestari speculated that Saudi Arabia intends to run a redux of Sheikh Nimr bin Nimr, the Saudi Shia cleric who was executed in January on charges of instigating unrest, and whose death led to severance of ties between Iran and several Arab countries. "Continuous pressure against the people of Bahrain will be the beginning of a bloody intifada that will overthrow the Saudi regime and Al Khalifa" warned Mojtahed-Shabestari.

The salary scandal, controversy over astronomical salaries and bonuses received by a number of state-run bank and insurance officials, was also addressed by Friday prayers across the country. In Qom, where Iran's most important Shi seminaries are located, Friday prayers' sermonizer Seyyed Mohammad Saeidi called for a strong response to the controversy, warning that such astronomical salaries can undermine the credibility of (religious) values. Meanwhile in Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda called for return of the hefty payments paid to government officials. Alamolhoda however defended the Islamic Republic's white-collars class. "People should not think that all officials receive such astronomical salaries. Our officials are truthful and receive minimal wages" he tried to assure the audience. In Arak, central Iran, former intelligence minister Ghorbanali Dori Najafabadi also called for further attention by the government and the legal supervisory bodies towards the issue while in Sari, center of Mazandaran Province, Ayatollah Nourollah Tabarsi stated that such sky-high wages are against the divine nature of the Islamic Republic. "People expect the officials not to neglect economical misdemeanors and persecute the offenders" he said. Also in Qazvin, Ayatollah Abdolkarim Abedini called for the government's further vigilance in its appointments, so that such abuse of public wealth would not take place anymore.