Corruption within the Tehran Municipality spans several periods, with its extent becoming so widespread that in 2020, the deputy mayor acknowledged that a budget had been allocated specifically to uncover corruption within the organization. In fact, corruption in the municipality was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Transparency Committee of the City Council. In 2020, a member of the Tehran City Council described corruption as "the most annoying and disgusting trait" that citizens encounter when dealing with the municipality.
Media coverage of documents suggesting the transfer of what was called "Astronomical real estate controversy" during Mohammad Bagher GhalibafâÂÂs tenure as mayor further shed light on the scale of corruption within the organization. A leak in September 2016 revealed that properties worth several trillion dirhams had been transferred to a group of city managers and members of the Tehran City Council during Ghalibaf's time in office. The Memari News website, which had previously exposed other instances of misconduct in the Tehran MunicipalityâÂÂsuch as the use of a park for Ghalibaf's daughter's wedding was blocked and its director, Yashar Soltani, was imprisoned. Criticism of the widespread corruption during Ghalibaf's leadership was not limited to Soltani's leaks; many other municipal officials and members of the Tehran City Council also repeatedly highlighted inefficiency and violations during that period.
On September 13, 2005, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was elected as the mayor of Tehran by the Tehran City Council and held the position for 12 years, until September 1, 2017. Throughout his tenure, he was associated with numerous corruption scandals, the most notable of which was the astronomical real estate controversy.
According to a report by the Tehran City Council investigating contracts with the Rasa Tejarat Company, which is linked to the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation, the Tehran Municipality transferred 12.9 trillion tomans to companies connected with the Revolutionary Guards in 2014. Despite this large sum, the municipality was unable to recover the funds after six years. The investigation into Rasa Tejarat's performance and its contracts with the Tehran Municipality, which were finalized during Ghalibaf's term as mayor, began on November 1, 2019. The final report was presented during a Tehran City Council meeting on Sunday, May 9.
The Iranian Armed Forces Judicial Organization issued a statement confirming that the Supreme Court had upheld the conviction of Issa Sharifi, Ghalibaf's deputy during his time as mayor. Sharifi was arrested in September 2017, and his corruption case was primarily linked to Yas Financial Holding, an economic arm of the Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Foundation. Rasa Tejarat was also a subsidiary of this holding, which was dissolved following the exposure of numerous corruption cases.
During his term, a contract was signed to purchase a public electric fleet from China. One of the points of this contract was the presence of a Chinese construction company on the other side of the contract.
In May 2014, a report by the Tehran City Council investigating the contracts with Rasa Tejarat, a company affiliated with the Sepah Cooperative Foundation, revealed that the Tehran Municipality had transferred 12.9 trillion tomans to companies connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 2014. The report also stated that, after six years, the municipality had been unable to recover the funds.
The cooperation between the Tehran Municipality and Rasa Tejarat began with an agreement in the spring of 2014. Based on the average dollar price that year, the value of these transfers amounted to more than 4 billion dollars. These assets, belonging to the Tehran Municipality, were transferred to the IRGC, and the report emphasized that they had not been returned. Additionally, it was reported that 1,700 billion tomans in debts owed by the IRGC to the Tehran Municipality, which had been due since 2015, had disappeared from the financial records for 2016.