{"id":334493,"date":"2025-07-21T22:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=334493"},"modified":"2025-07-22T07:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T06:58:16","slug":"seddiqis-pulpit-comeback-fuels-iranian-regime-infighting-and-undermines-unity-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/seddiqis-pulpit-comeback-fuels-iranian-regime-infighting-and-undermines-unity-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Seddiqi\u2019s Pulpit Comeback Fuels Iranian Regime Infighting and Undermines Unity Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Kazem
Kazem Seddiqi, Tehran\u2019s temporary Friday prayer leader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kazem Seddiqi\u2019s controversial return to Tehran\u2019s Friday Prayer pulpit on July 18, 2025, has sparked significant public<\/a> and political backlash, reigniting debates around corruption, accountability, and the regime\u2019s impunity toward its insiders. After months of absence caused by his entanglement in a murky financial corruption case involving the illicit transfer of ownership documents for a luxury garden estate in the affluent Ozgol district of Tehran, Seddiqi reappeared before the public to call for \u201cpiety\u201d and \u201cunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

His re-emergence is part of a broader attempt by the clerical dictatorship\u2014severely weakened by a convergence of crises over the past two years\u2014to fabricate a fa\u00e7ade of \u201cnational unity\u201d in a system increasingly exposed as hollow and fractured.<\/p>\n

Cleric with a Case<\/h2>\n

Seddiqi had previously refrained from leading Friday prayers following the arrests of his sons and daughter-in-law over allegations of land grabbing and embezzlement in connection with the Ozgol property case<\/a>. However, without addressing the accusations or providing any accountability, he returned to the high-profile religious platform and once again assumed his roles as Friday Prayer leader and head of the so-called Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.<\/p>\n

His return comes at a time when the regime is under immense pressure: militarily weakened after the 12-day war, internally destabilized by rising public anger, and increasingly incapable of maintaining the loyalty of its own ranks. The clerical leadership appears desperate to showcase continuity and loyalty\u2014even if it means recycling figures tainted by scandal.<\/p>\n

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Kazem Seddiqi\u2019s Family Symbolizes Institutionalized Corruption in #Iran<\/a>\u2019s Regimehttps:\/\/t.co\/ERNf8NIume<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n