Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged the government to take serious action to address the issue of fat cat salaries paid to a few officials, which has sparked public outrage particularly in the social media.
"The issue of astronomical salaries is an infringement of values. Everyone should know that this issue is one of the exceptions and most organizations' directors are principled people," the Leader said, IRNA reported.
"But even this small number is still very inappropriate and must be dealt with," he said in a Ramadan meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and government officials on Wednesday.
Referring to Rouhani's order to First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri to follow up on the issue, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "This issue must not be temporized. It should be pursued seriously and the public must be kept abreast of the results."
He went on to say that "According to information I've received, most directors of organizations receive reasonable wages and inflated salaries are related to a few directors. Even these few cases must be dealt with firmly."
Faulty View
He cited a point from Nahj al-Balagha -- a collection of sermons, letters and narrations attributed to Imam Ali (PBUH) -- regarding the exploitation of an official post for accumulating wealth and special gains, saying, "Holding such a view vis-à-vis responsibility, which in fact is a sort of trust, will belittle and humiliate human beings."
Ayatollah Khamenei also cautioned against any move that might boost the position of those who protested the re-election of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009, known as "seditionists".
"Under conditions of sedition, like the issue of the 2009 [post-election unrest], care must be taken that words, silence, action and even viewpoints do not boost sedition."
"Of course, some individuals, due to their personal inclinations, may not be interested in taking clear stances against such sedition. However, their (inaction or lack of response) should not be exploited for the benefit of the sedition either."
He again cited Imam Ali's recommendations in the Nahj al-Balagha, saying, "One must always watch out for his tongue because many problems of mankind stem from the tongue.
"The failure to watch out for the tongue may sometimes … create social problems. One must be careful."
