12 Trillion Tomans Drop in Stock Market Value

The newspaper Mardomsalari reported on its front page on Tuesday about the "approval of an urgent proposal for provincializing parliamentary elections," stating that "out of 220 representatives present in the open session, 133 agreed, 64 opposed, and 11 abstained from voting on the urgency" of this proposal. The newspaper Etedad emphasized that the "provincialization of elections" will make it "harder for candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections who are not currently in the parliament." It wrote: "If this proposal is finally approved by the parliament, electoral candidates will no longer be able to rely on their local positions. They will have to introduce themselves to voters in all electoral districts of each province." Majid Nasirpour, Deputy for Parliamentary Supervision of the Presidential Office, also emphasized that the "provincialization of parliamentary elections is a proposal with numerous flaws and financial burdens," telling this newspaper that with this proposal, "those in power will have the opportunity to design an electoral list for the province, and since they have greater access to budgets, they will be able to conduct extensive advertising for their list." The newspaper Teadbal reported from Tehran's Manouchehri Street about the "moment-to-moment increase in the dollar price" in Tehran's currency market, reaching 3500 tomans, stating: "The reversal in the market has blown away all the executive policies of the eleventh government." The newspaper Jahan San'at, in its front page on December 1, referred to the "dollar fall of the stock market," writing: "A look at the statistics shows that from last Tuesday to Sunday, December 1, the stock market value has decreased by more than 12 trillion tomans, indicating that the decline in stock value has reached a warning threshold." The newspaper Kaseb o Kar reported on the "shutdown of private cinemas," stating: "Ten thousand seats have been removed from the capacity of Tehran's cinemas." The newspapers Shahre Vandan and Farhikhtegan published reports about the details of acid attacks on the head of the Ziaian Hospital in Tehran. The newspaper Shahre Vandan quoted Siamand Anvari, a doctor who was attacked by acid throwers, regarding the perpetrators of the acid attacks, saying: "I think these individuals are a group of microbes in society who want to disrupt the security, peace, and comfort of the people. Wherever they feel that people are somewhat happy, they somehow disrupt the situation, but they should know that our people will not be brought down by these things and will always stand tall." The newspaper Shargh also reported that during the attacks on women in Jahrom, "female students were the target of the assailant." The newspaper Arman quoted Minou Mohraz, head of the AIDS Research Center, reporting that "the average age of AIDS patients in Iran has dropped below 30 years." The newspaper Ebtekar, referring to "Hassan Rouhani's parasitic mission to government officials," quoted Mahmoud Vaezi, Minister of Communications, stating: "Three ministers and one deputy president have been assigned by Hassan Rouhani to prepare a report on the issue of parasites and present it to the government for decisions to be made based on this report." According to Mahmoud Vaezi, "the Ministries of Health, Communications and Information Technology, Defense, and the Atomic Energy Organization" are members of a committee that will examine "non-telecommunications parasites." The newspaper Javan reported a 30% increase in bread prices, stating: "From now on, Taftoon bread will be 390 tomans, Barbari 650 tomans, Sangak 780 tomans, and Lavash 208 tomans." This newspaper highlighted the remarks of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic during a meeting with naval commanders, quoting Ali Khamenei as saying: "Regardless of political calculations, prepare the armed forces better." The approval of the urgency of the provincialization of elections; facilitating the entry of those connected to power and wealth into the parliament. The newspaper Mardomsalari reported on its front page on Tuesday about the "approval of an urgent proposal for provincializing parliamentary elections," stating that "out of 220 representatives present in the open session, 133 agreed, 64 opposed, and 11 abstained from voting on the urgency" of this proposal. According to this newspaper, "Islamic Consultative Assembly representatives agreed in an open session on Sunday to the urgency of the proposal 'Provincialization of Electoral Districts for Parliamentary Elections,'" and Mehrdad Lahouti, as a representative of the proposal's sponsors, said: "This proposal aims to achieve goals such as improving the quality of the parliament, increasing public participation in elections, and preventing some violations such as vote buying by changing and determining new boundaries for electoral districts." This newspaper quoted Mehrdad Lahouti as saying: "The severe and contentious ethnic and tribal competitions will be eliminated, national solidarity will be strengthened, and the reduction of the number of candidates will decrease the costs of conducting elections while increasing and facilitating public participation in exercising the right to determine their fate." According to the newspaper Mardomsalari, Javad Jahangirzadeh, a representative from Urmia, also spoke in opposition to this proposal in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: "The approval of this proposal by representatives raises the suspicion of why the representatives of the parliament thought of changing the law of their election at the end of their term." Javad Jahangirzadeh also said: "With this proposal, small cities will be excluded from the decision-making circle, which will be a problem," adding that "those who are more connected to centers of power and wealth will win more votes." The newspaper Etedad also described the approval of the urgency of the proposal "provincializing electoral districts for parliamentary elections" in the Sunday session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly as "a step forward for provincializing parliamentary elections," referring to two previous unsuccessful attempts to pass such a proposal in recent years. This newspaper implicitly criticized the representatives' action in approving the urgency of this proposal, writing: "The parliament is determining the rules for its own elections, competing with candidates who are preparing for March 2016. Now the parliamentarians want their elections to be 'provincialized.' They do not care that a little above Baharestan Square, the Expediency Discernment Council is busy reviewing and drafting the general policies of elections, which has been referred to the Expediency Discernment Council by the Supreme Leader of the Revolution." Etedad noted that after the approval of the urgency of the provincialization of parliamentary elections, "all eyes are now fixed on the fate of reviewing the generalities and details of it," reminding that previously "169 representatives" had signed the provincialization of elections proposal, but the "two urgencies" of this proposal "did not receive votes in the parliament a while ago, and now its urgency has been approved by the parliament with 133 votes." This newspaper also wrote: "The decrease in the number of votes in favor compared to the signatories of the proposal is not a good reason for opponents of the provincialization of elections to hope for its stalling. Opponents who mostly have no place in Baharestan and are trying to test their luck for entering the parliament in March 2016." The newspaper Etedad emphasized that the "provincialization of elections" will make it "harder for candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections who are not currently in the parliament." It wrote: "If this proposal is finally approved by the parliament, electoral candidates will no longer be able to rely on their local positions. They will have to introduce themselves to voters in all electoral districts of each province." This newspaper also pointed out that if the proposal for provincializing parliamentary elections is approved, "current representatives will be one step ahead of their competitors due to the position they have held over the past four years." Etedad simultaneously quoted Davood Abbas Zareh Zadeh, a member of the Commission for Councils and Internal Affairs of the parliament, stating: "This proposal will definitely not reach the parliamentary elections of the tenth parliament," adding that "the Commission for Councils and Internal Affairs of the parliament is opposed to the provincialization of elections." According to this newspaper, "this opposition is significant because after the urgency of the provincialization proposal was approved yesterday, it must go to the Commission for Councils and Internal Affairs to be discussed and examined there as well." Majid Nasirpour, Deputy for Parliamentary Supervision of the Presidential Office, also emphasized that "the provincialization of parliamentary elections is a proposal with numerous flaws and financial burdens," telling the newspaper Etedad: "With this proposal and the conversion of county elections to provincial ones, it seems that there will not be a serious change in the culture of party activity among the people. The only thing that will happen is that those in power will have the opportunity to design an electoral list for the province, and since they have greater access to budgets, they will be able to conduct extensive advertising for their list." The newspaper Teadbal: The reversal in the market has blown away the government's executive policies. The newspaper Teadbal reported from Tehran's Manouchehri Street about the "moment-to-moment increase in the dollar price" in Tehran's currency market on Sunday, stating: "The reversal in the market has blown away all the executive policies of the eleventh government." This newspaper pointed out that there is no longer "news of price stability, nor is there any movement on a decreasing track," describing the situation in the Manouchehri market on Sunday: "Currency traders and brokers no longer wait for buyers to perhaps increase market demand. Perhaps the clearest absence in today's Manouchehri market can be attributed to the Central Bank's oversight, which had covered the entire market for months. From Ferdowsi Square towards Manouchehri, the crowd is roaring. The most heard sounds are numbers that rise higher every moment." The newspaper Teadbal also wrote that in the Tehran currency market, "some say that the drop in oil prices has caused the government to face a budget deficit, and the government is trying to compensate for this deficit, while others say that the extension of negotiations has not brought good results; this news has caused the dollar to rise from 3250 tomans to 3500 tomans." This newspaper recalled that it was on Wednesday that Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, stated regarding the currency market that the conditions for a decrease in the market would be provided in the coming days, but five days after Valiollah's remarks on Sunday, "there was no sign of the Central Bank in the market," while the head of the Central Bank again described the fluctuations in the currency market as "natural" and said that "the market will soon return to its previous stability." The newspaper Teadbal described the remarks of the head of the Central Bank on Sunday as statements to "calm the market from current tensions" in the currency market, writing: "The reversal in the market has blown away all the executive policies of the eleventh government; under these conditions, neither can the government reach a single exchange rate for the currency, nor can the stability implemented in the market return again." This newspaper, while referring to the "8% profit of the dollar in 6 days," wrote: "Many speculations indicate that these price increases are unstable and the result of the market's emotional behavior, but this point should not be forgotten that the current tensions in the currency market can bring substantial profits for many individuals," and "the increase in rates, no matter how temporary, can create many rent-seeking opportunities." "The dollar fall of the stock market"; a 12 trillion toman drop in stock market value over four days. The newspaper Jahan San'at, in its front page on December 1, referred to the "dollar fall of the stock market," writing: "Investment in the stock market has become risky." According to this newspaper, a look at the statistics shows that from "last Tuesday to Sunday, December 1, the stock market value has decreased by more than 12 trillion tomans, indicating that the decline in stock value has reached a warning threshold and reflects the historical setbacks of recent months." This newspaper recalled that "the value of this market [the stock market] was close to 336 trillion tomans on December 4, 2014," but "with a heavy drop of 12 trillion tomans in four days, on Sunday, December 1, 2014, it reached 324 trillion tomans," and "the conditions of the market indices are much worse than the market value, as during this period, the total transaction index dropped from 75,739 units to 72,189 units, indicating a drop of 3,759 units in this parameter alone in four working days, which highlights the depth of losses for investors in the stock market." Hadi Momeni, in a report for the newspaper Jahan San'at, wrote: "The stock market, on the backdrop of the unrestrained rise in the dollar rate and the continued fall in global oil prices, faced a collective drop in indices and prices. These developments occurred while the situation in the stock market over the past four trading days has reached the worst possible shape for shareholders." This newspaper quoted Azim Sabit, a market investment expert, stating: "The excuse for the stock market drop was the lack of a specific result in the nuclear negotiations that began last week, but the continuation of this trend relates to the drop in oil prices and the rise in the dollar rate." According to the newspaper Jahan San'at, Hamid Reza Amiri, another market investment expert, also pointed out that "liquidity has moved from the stock market to the currency and dollar market," saying: "The news of the extension of political negotiations, the severe drop in global oil prices, and the rise in the dollar and currency rates are a combination of reasons that have led to a sharp drop in the capital market and a decrease in the stock prices of listed companies," and "the stock market managers and legal entities are currently just observers of the glass hall." The newspaper Kaseb o Kar reported on the "shutdown of private cinemas," stating: "Ten thousand seats have been removed from the capacity of Tehran's cinemas."