1500 Toman Gasoline: Fuel for 800,000 Jobs

The newspaper Shargh, in its front page titled "1500 Toman Gasoline: Fuel for 800,000 Jobs," writes: "The government and parliament should please revisit past experiences regarding price manipulation." This newspaper points out that "the government is determined to increase gasoline prices by 50%. It does not shy away from holding numerous meetings with decision-making circles to convince them, nor from giving multiple speeches about the benefits of this decision." On the same day, the President emphasized the advantages of the price increase, stating that this increase would solely be used for job creation. However, it would be beneficial for the government and parliament to reflect on past experiences and achievements from previous price hikes, as "studies show that during the energy price shock in 2010, at least 1.4 million jobs were lost in 2011 compared to 2010 due to bankruptcies and business closures." The Shargh newspaper also mentions that according to economist Hassan Sobhani, it is predicted that with this new price shock, around 800,000 jobs may be lost. The Research Center of the Parliament also reported that the increase in energy carrier prices under Article 18 would lead to a 0.75 to 1 percent reduction in the country's economic growth in 2018, which could result in a decrease of 360,000 to 480,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper, close to the Front of Steadfastness, in its front page on Wednesday titled "With Rouhani Until 1500," used the election slogan of the current President's supporters in this year's elections, "With Rouhani Until 1400," as a critical and ironic headline regarding the potential increase in gasoline prices. This newspaper emphasized that "the government wants to sell each liter of gasoline for 1500 Toman and each liter of diesel for 400 Toman." Following the announcement of the 2018 budget bill, media outlets reported an increase in fuel prices, leading to widespread criticism directed at the government. This news even confused the government's supporters, and the wave of criticism and protests extended beyond Rouhani's usual critics. Kayhan, published under the supervision of the Supreme Leader's representative, reflected the timing of Hassan Rouhani's statements about "citizen rights" and the news about the increase in gasoline prices in a sarcastic headline, stating: "Elimination of subsidies and increase in gasoline prices as a down payment for citizen rights." The newspaper noted that "at the very moment the President was giving a speech on the importance of citizen rights and the government's commitment to implementing them at the Summit of Heads of State, the Presidential Information Base officially unveiled the increase in gasoline and diesel prices to 1500 and 400 Toman." The Iran newspaper, close to the government, emphasized that "nothing about the prices of gasoline and diesel is certain," stating: "It is predicted in Article 18 that the government will earn 17 trillion Toman through this, which it is obligated to spend on job creation." Therefore, "to achieve such revenue, the prices of gasoline and diesel in the 2018 budget are proposed to be 1500 and 400 Toman, respectively." This newspaper described the speculations about the potential increase in gasoline prices as stemming from the government's proposal for the 2018 budget bill, stating: "This matter is not definite and is merely a professional opinion that requires further discussion and examination, and it will be officially announced once it is finalized." However, "some media outlets have misinterpreted this matter or claimed for other reasons that the government's information base has officially announced the new prices of gasoline and diesel, which is completely incorrect." The Arman newspaper dedicated its front page to Ali Shamkhani, with the headline "End of House Arrest; Maybe Soon," reporting that "the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council announced the opening of the situation for the house-arrested individuals." According to this newspaper, Ali Shamkhani stated regarding the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard: "The decision made regarding the gradual opening of the situation for Mr. Karroubi, Mousavi, and Mrs. Rahnavard is in progress." The Arman newspaper reminded that Ali Shamkhani had previously announced openings that did not materialize, and noted that he had recently stated: "They are not under house arrest." In January 2014, during the early weeks of his tenure as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, in response to a journalist's question about how to resolve the house arrest, he had said: "I am a man of action, not just words." The Khorasan newspaper, in a report titled "Reactions to Ali Shamkhani's Proposal to Eliminate Protection for Personalities," wrote: "The recent remarks of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council against the protection of personalities and state officials have elicited various reactions." According to this newspaper, three days prior, Ali Shamkhani had stated: "In the country, no security threat is directed at any official. I am responsible for the country's security. The fact that the hypocrites used to carry out assassinations relates to the 1980s, and they can no longer do so. Moreover, we have strong security apparatuses; why should we be afraid? We should eliminate the protection of personalities; we do not have protection for personalities, we have the decorum and prestige of personalities. I go to mosques, parks, and mountains alone and by subway, and I have no problems." Mohammad Esmail Kowsari, the deputy commander of the IRGC, reacted to Ali Shamkhani's remarks in Khorasan newspaper, stating: "I also agree that security is 100% established in the country, but on what basis he made this statement should be asked of him." However, "there is no doubt that some important personalities in the country need protection, but regarding which personalities need protection, the National Security Council committee decides and gives its opinion." This newspaper also quoted Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former head of the IRIB, stating: "Protection for personalities has turned into their degradation. If it were up to me, I would eliminate the protection for all but a few legal and natural persons. I have repeatedly said and written, there is really nothing going on; the country is safe." The former head of the IRIB also stated: "For years, I have been saying and writing about this. I do not know why escorting, protection, and special routes have pleased many personalities. It has become a new lifestyle for them." Khorasan newspaper simultaneously quoted someone described as "a senior training instructor in personality protection and the former head of the protection team for Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani," stating: "I know Mr. Shamkhani and his protection team closely, and his explicit remarks in this regard were not accurate." Furthermore, "it would have been better if Mr. Shamkhani had presented the discussion in such a way that due to the existing security in the country and to avoid high costs, I want to create a situation where my protection team does not accompany me in certain places. Because, after all, his residence and home are protected, and he also uses protection during movements." This personality protection training instructor pointed out that "after the Supreme Leader, Mr. Hashemi had the heaviest protection team, and of course, the heads of the judiciary and parliament are also protected, but they have different levels that vary according to the threats that exist today, and therefore a new definition of threats should be established." The Javan newspaper, close to the IRGC, in its editorial titled "The Constraints of the Judiciary and an Initiative" recommended that the judiciary should take the initiative in response to the public statements made by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating that "the courts of Ahmadinejad's associates should be held publicly." Abdullah Ghanji, in the editorial of this newspaper, emphasized that "field social actions with the judiciary and the judiciary's response to them do not naturally produce capital for the judiciary," calling the judiciary "the coercive power" and emphasizing that "the nature of the coercive power is such that it does not feel social satisfaction towards itself, and it does not even matter who its officials and stakeholders are." He noted that "what is certain is that there has always been corruption in the judiciary; some judges, lawyers, and facilitators are the three pillars of corruption in the judiciary." This newspaper pointed out the verbal attacks of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Sadegh Larijani and posed the question: "Does attacking the head of the judiciary or personalizing the issue and even removing the head of the judiciary mean the end of corruption in this institution?" It stated that even the dismissal of the head of this institution would "definitely" not mean the "end of corruption" in this institution, but "today the judiciary has a comprehensible trump card that it has dealt with the big fish, but if it can prove another action, it will have serious support, and that is to prove that the fight against corruption within the judiciary is growing and hopeful." The Javan newspaper pointed out that "everyone knows that the relationship between the head of the judiciary and Hashemi, Rouhani, and Khatami has not been favorable, but why did they not enter the field of personal struggle like Ahmadinejad?" It stated that "the answer to this question is not a single option, but perhaps Ahmadinejad's assumption in understanding the ninth and tenth governments can be considered the main factor, and Ahmadinejad's assumption is that the ninth and tenth governments are the cleanest governments after the revolution." The editorial writer of this newspaper then stated that the judiciary "should take the initiative and hold public trials for Ahmadinejad's associates," as "public trials will correct many perceptions. Even some topics that do not contradict national security or public decency can be kept confidential, but some financial sessions can be made public. Although, as Mohseni Ejei stated, the law does not allow media broadcasting, but holding non-media public sessions is also defensible and effective in social persuasion; there is no other way." The Iran newspaper dedicated its front page and headline to Hassan Rouhani and his statements at "the first national conference on the report of the implementation of citizen rights," quoting the President of the twelfth government as saying: "The right is with the nation." According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani emphasized that "the revolution was for people to say we are not subjects, we are citizens," and "all security agencies must know they are servants of society," stating: "You cannot close the internet space in today's world and talk about employment." He told the Minister of Science from the loudspeaker: "There should be no star-student." Part of Hassan Rouhani's remarks, as reported by this newspaper, was about the 2018 budget bill, where the President stated: "I am very happy, the budget went to the parliament, and there was a commotion in cyberspace," but "in the 2018 budget, nothing will become expensive unless we say where it will be spent, and the people agree," and "whoever takes money from the people's pockets must tell them where and how it has been spent." The Etemad newspaper also featured the headline "Anti-Surveillance," stating that Hassan Rouhani, at the first national conference on the report of citizen rights progress and solutions to remove obstacles to achieving citizen rights, asked his ministers to present their performance reports and, in addition to emphasizing "the preservation of citizen rights," said: "If someone wants to study at the bachelor's and master's levels, what do you care about their life? Security goes to ask the neighbor if this young man is a good young man? What does it matter to you if he lives in his house with his wife? What nonsense is this?" According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani emphasized that "the Prophet did not allow surveillance," stating that "the cases of surveillance are specified. Except for cases such as terrorism, organized crimes, and conspiracies against the entire country, we do not have surveillance, and this is the resolution of the Supreme National Security Council. I announce to all security agencies, from the Ministry of Intelligence, IRGC, Law Enforcement, and several other agencies that sometimes engage in these activities, that the law must be followed." According to this newspaper, at the same time, "Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, announced on Tuesday at the first national conference on citizen rights about the preparation of a draft bill to ban the buying and selling of surveillance equipment." The Hemayat newspaper, affiliated with the prison organization, reported on its front page that "the ruling in the Hamid Baghaei case has been issued," but emphasized that "details of the court ruling will be announced after it becomes definitive." This newspaper wrote: "The Hamid Baghaei case has reached a conclusion in the first-instance court that has led to a ruling, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of the ninth and tenth governments, who has a history of setting red lines for his associates against the law, has begun a barrage of attacks against the judiciary with the emergence of this case to perhaps overshadow the case with media hype in cyberspace." The Hemayat newspaper simultaneously published the Tehran Prosecutor's notice in response to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating: "Instead of threatening others, be accountable to the judiciary." The Jame-e-Farda newspaper in its Thursday edition published "the account of the workers of Hepco regarding pressures and threats after last summer's protests," reporting that one of the managers of this company referred to the protesting workers as "terrorists" and called for their elimination.