A prominent Iranian religious figure has stepped down from his position as the interim leader of Tehran’s Friday Prayers, following the arrest of his relatives on financial misconduct charges.
Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi, who had held the role for seventeen years, faced increasing pressure to resign after his son and daughter-in-law were detained in early June. The controversy deepened further due to a 2024 investigative report that linked the cleric and his family to an approximately $20 million land acquisition scandal involving a religious seminary he established in the capital.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accepted Sedighi’s resignation on Sunday, expressing gratitude for his long service. According to an official statement from Khamenei’s website, Sedighi cited a desire to concentrate on “academic, educational, and religious duties” as the reason for his departure.
In June, Sedighi admitted to the arrests, asserting his commitment to legal procedures. “If the law issues a verdict concerning my child, I will follow it, as I have always seen myself as an advocate of legal principles,” he stated through Iran’s judiciary media outlet.
On June 10, judicial spokesperson Asghar Jahangir confirmed that Sedighi’s son and daughter-in-law were among six individuals detained on “financial” grounds. “Preliminary inquiries are ongoing, and the full scope remains unclear at this stage,” Jahangir noted, emphasizing that the judiciary maintains no limits in combating corruption.
The allegations trace back to March 2024, when journalist Yashar Soltani published documents purportedly showing that a seminary founded by Sedighi had transferred ownership of an adjacent property to a firm linked to the cleric and his family. Sedighi initially dismissed the claims as “fraud and breach of trust,” but later issued a video apology to the nation, acknowledging “carelessness” in overseeing the institution.