..The Persian VOA has been transmitting for some time now....
True, but the TV broadcasts began July 6th.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Receives Hefty Kickback on Auto Sales!?
July 15, 2003
AFP
Khaleej Times
TEHRAN - The office of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has taken the rare step of seeking to dispel a popular myth that it receives a hefty cut on the sale of new cars, press reports said on Tuesday.
“The rumours that say that this office receives a percentage off the cars manufactured in Iran are sheer lies, and only try to sow anxiety and mistrust,” Khamenei’s office was quoted as saying in a statement.
“This office has asked the ministry of intelligence to identify those spreading such rumors so they could be dealt with according to the law,” it added.
According to a rumour frequently heard in Tehran, particularly from struggling taxi drivers, the high price of even low-quality cars can be attributed to a “religious tax” that sees up to a third of their cash sent to Khamenei.
Many drivers argue that a car such as the locally-produced Paykan, which is based on the 1960’s British Hillman Hunter, cannot be worth its sale price of 7,500 dollars.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2003/July/middleeast_July263.xml§ion=middleeast&col=