Shahrzadnews - Various conservative Iranian websites have condemned the elevation of close relatives of regime officials to important posts. When Tehran’s mayor Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf recently appointed Maysam Mozafar – whose father was education minister under the Khatami administration – as head of the capital’s taxi organisation, the Tabnak website, run by former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei, was highly critical, saying: “cronyism has undermined the Ahmadinejad administration”.
The wide-spread practice is one aspect of the unprecedented corruption and bribery found among the country’s civil servants. While many highly-qualified Iranians are desperately looking for a suitable government post, ministers, high officials, MPs and the clergy are installing unqualified and inexperienced relatives in top managerial and administrative positions, commanding high salaries.
The system is seen as a way of buying loyalty for the regime’s leadership. Also, it keeps dissidents out of the ruling hierarchy.
