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The Iranian regime’s approved budget for the year 1404 on the Persian calendar (March 2025 – March 2026) reveals a sharp increase in funding for state-controlled media, security forces, and religious institutions, while public services, infrastructure, and economic relief remain severely underfunded. Despite the ongoing economic turmoil, rampant inflation, and growing public dissatisfaction, the regime’s budget prioritizes propaganda, military expansion, and ideological control over addressing the country’s worsening crises.
While the public budget plan outlines significant allocations, it represents only a portion of the Iranian regime’s actual expenditures. Substantial funding directed toward the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Quds Force, as well as the regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, operates off the official books, lacking transparency and oversight. The IRGC has expanded into various economic sectors, controlling a vast business empire that funds its military and covert operations. Additionally, numerous institutions affiliated with the Supreme Leader’s office manage extensive financial assets, such as the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (Setad), a conglomerate worth hundreds of billions of dollars, amassed through systematic property seizures. These off-budget entities and expenditures enable the regime to pursue its military and ideological objectives without public accountability.
#Iran News:
Infighting Intensifies in Parliament Over 1404 #Budget as Regime Prioritizes Self-Preservationhttps://t.co/Rv4aaLG6Mu— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 30, 2024
Key Figures in the 2025 Budget
- Total budget for 19 government ministries: 2,239.88 quadrillion tomans
- IRIB (State Broadcaster) budget: 35 trillion tomans
- Military and intelligence sectors: Significant increases in funding
- Religious and ideological institutions: Over 94 trillion tomans
- Public sector wages increase: Only 20% despite 50%+ inflation
- Infrastructure budget (development projects): Only 350 trillion tomans, inadequate to complete ongoing projects
Massive Budget Increase for Propaganda and Religious Institutions
One of the most striking aspects of the budget is the funding for Iran’s state-controlled media and religious institutions, which have no benefit for the Iranian population.
State Broadcasting (IRIB) – A Budget Larger Than 10 Ministries Combined
- IRIB’s 2025 budget is set at 35 trillion tomans, marking a 46% increase from the previous year’s 24 trillion tomans.
- This exceeds the combined budget of 10 government ministries, including Oil, Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Cultural Heritage.
- IRIB’s budget also matches the entire budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, despite Iran’s deepening food security crisis.
- Despite this massive allocation, IRIB’s viewership has plummeted, with an ISPA survey showing only 11.5% of Iranians watch its TV series and 12.5% rely on it for news.
#Iran's Economy Faces Unprecedented Decline Amid Global Isolation and #Financial Mismanagementhttps://t.co/5Jaf0w1gsp
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 6, 2025
Funding for Religious and Ideological Institutions – Over 94 Trillion Tomans
- Center for Islamic Seminaries: 14 trillion tomans
- Supreme Council of Islamic Seminaries: 7 trillion tomans
- Islamic Propagation Organization: 5 trillion tomans
- Al-Mustafa International University (a network exporting Iran’s ideology abroad): 1.75 trillion tomans
- Committee for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice (responsible for enforcing hijab laws): 242 billion tomans
- Policy Committee for Women’s Seminaries: 1.46 trillion tomans
- Council for Coordinating Islamic Propaganda: 313 billion tomans
- Institute for Imam Khomeini’s Teachings: 450 billion tomans
🔹 Total budget for ideological institutions: Comparable to Iran’s total budget for the energy sector, despite ongoing blackouts and energy shortages.
Security and Military Spending Skyrockets Amid Crackdowns
The Ministry of Intelligence’s official budget has been increased by 67%, reaching 54 trillion tomans. This sharp increase signals further investment in state surveillance and repression.
Iran’s military and paramilitary forces, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), continue to receive undisclosed but significant financial boosts, even as public infrastructure and services deteriorate.
#Iran’s Fiery Rhetoric Amid Military Budget Hikes: A Shield for Internal Vulnerabilitieshttps://t.co/aFq6qlXldB
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 4, 2024
Meanwhile, Iran’s pension funds are collapsing:
- 777 trillion tomans allocated for pension funds, covering the civil service, military, and steel industry retirees.
- Retired workers have protested for years due to delayed or unpaid pensions, which the government continues to ignore.
Public Services, Wages, and Infrastructure Severely Underfunded
Education and Healthcare
- While the Iranian regime claims to allocate significant funds to education and healthcare, in reality, these sectors are starved of resources. Schools remain outdated, teachers go unpaid, hospitals suffer from severe medicine shortages, and essential services are collapsing.
- Teachers and healthcare workers have repeatedly protested against low wages and underfunded facilities.
Public Sector Wage Increases Fall Far Behind Inflation
- Government salaries are set to increase by only 20%, while inflation in essential goods has exceeded 50% in recent months.
- Meanwhile, food prices, housing costs, and basic services remain unaffordable for many Iranians.
Infrastructure and Development Projects Face Delays
- Iran’s infrastructure budget for 2025 is only 350 trillion tomans.
- This is insufficient to complete over 2,000 stalled development projects, including unfinished roads, water supply networks, and power plants.
- Experts estimate that it would take 13 years to complete Iran’s unfinished infrastructure projects at the current budget level.
#Iran’s 1404 Budget Proposal: Fuel Price Hikes, Defense Spending Boost, and Increased #Taxation Amid Economic Strainhttps://t.co/VCpOvCO4YV
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 22, 2024
A Budget for Repression, Not Relief
Iran’s 2025 budget clearly prioritizes systemic oppression, military expansion, and regime survival over addressing the country’s worsening economic conditions. With food prices soaring, healthcare underfunded, and millions of retirees struggling to receive pensions, the government’s decision to pour billions into propaganda and security forces highlights its disconnect from the Iranian people’s needs.
🔹 While Iranian citizens face rising poverty, the clerical regime continues to enrich itself and its institutions at their expense.
🔹 This budget signals more oppression, more propaganda, and more mismanagement—while ordinary Iranians struggle to survive.