(BBC) - Sadeq Saba There is a widespread belief among ordinary Iranians that 20% of the profits from every car sold in the country goes to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a religious tax. Last week, after Iran's ministry of industry announced that the country's state-owned car manufacturers will no longer pay any money to the supreme leader's office - although the statement was later withdrawn - the ayatollah took the unusual step of denying he receives any illegitimate payments. But the ayatollah's denials will do little to dispel the widely-held view in Iran that a new class of millionaire mullahs are plundering the riches of the country.
2003-07-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive