30% Increase in Liquidity: Industry in Recession, Housing in Slumber

The newspaper 'Jahan San'at' reports a '30% increase in liquidity' in its front page, stating: 'Economic indicators for the year 1394 (2015) were released by the Central Bank on Sunday, showing that liquidity grew by 30% compared to the previous year.' The newspaper notes that 'despite the government's successful performance in reducing inflation and achieving single-digit inflation, it cannot be denied that the amount of liquidity has a positive relationship with inflation rates, and an increase in liquidity in society also means rising inflation.' 'Jahan San'at' also reported that according to a recent Central Bank report, 'the monetary base has grown by 17%', while 'once again, the absence of economic growth in the statistics provided by the Central Bank was evident.' The description 'Industry in recession, housing in slumber, oil in motion' is from the newspaper 'Khorasan' regarding the report 'Economic Indicators for the Fourth Quarter of 1394' published by the Central Bank on Sunday. This newspaper reminds that the Iranian economy began the winter of 1394 under sanctions but ended it without sanctions. With the implementation of the JCPOA on January 16, 2016, many sanctions, including those on oil sales, were lifted, and now the Central Bank's report on the economy for this season shows that 'the average daily oil sales have increased by about 200,000 barrels.' According to 'Khorasan,' despite the 'stock market surge,' the 'situation of industry (large industrial workshops), construction, and foreign trade was completely negative compared to winter 1393 (2014),' and 'of course, the Central Bank again, like its previous three reports, refrained from providing the overall economic growth rate for this year, but the published statistics from various sectors indicate a deepening recession in industry, construction, and foreign trade,' while 'the oil situation has been positive, and there is no data available from the services and agriculture sectors.' Government-supporting newspapers and those close to reformists highlighted Hassan Rouhani's statements during his trip to Kermanshah province in their Tuesday editions, while newspapers close to conservatives focused on the slogans against the government during this trip. The newspaper 'Iran,' close to the government, dedicated its front-page photo to Hassan Rouhani's speech in Kermanshah, quoting the President as saying: 'The past thefts will not be forgotten with the case of the pay slips.' This newspaper also reported that 'the President, during the 29th provincial trip of the Hope and Prudence caravan, was yesterday the guest of the people of Kermanshah; a people who displayed remarkable scenes of the bond between the government and the nation during the welcoming ceremony. The extensive reception of the people of Kermanshah is significant because some media outlets tried to diminish the government's standing with the people by emphasizing the irregular pay slips.' According to the 'Iran' newspaper, Hassan Rouhani also criticized 'such futile practices' during his speech in Kermanshah, pointing out that 'the only art of a minority, albeit a loud one, is to instill despair in society and paint a bleak picture,' stating that 'although this group is very small, their voices are loud, and they do not see the great actions that the great nation of Iran has taken towards development and progress.' The newspaper 'Sazandegi' emphasized in its front page, quoting Hassan Rouhani: 'We will extract the people's money from the throats of the thieves.' According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani stated at Azadi Stadium in Kermanshah: 'If there are gentlemen who want to continue the issue of pay slips in corners to make the past thefts forgotten, the people will not forget the previous thefts,' and 'the people of Iran demand that the courts bring the thieves to justice,' as 'the people will not forget the 3,000 billion and 12,000 billion violations.' The newspaper 'Hamdel' also noted that Hassan Rouhani, during his speech in Kermanshah, referred to the fact that 'we are alongside countries that still think they can change power through coups and that they can overthrow a government elected by the people with tanks, artillery, and airplanes,' emphasizing that 'they have not yet reached the point that the era of coups and imposing tanks and artillery on the people has ended,' and stressed that 'today, only the ballot box can be the solution to the problems for Iran, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen.' Almost all newspapers on Tuesday published this part of the Islamic Republic President's speech while omitting the name 'Iran' from Hassan Rouhani's emphasis that 'the ballot box can be the solution to the problems for Iran, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen.' The newspaper 'Javan,' close to the Revolutionary Guards, however, presented a different account of Hassan Rouhani's trip, stating: 'The President faced the overflowing patience of the people regarding the resolution of economic and occupational issues during his visit to Kermanshah.' This newspaper also described Hassan Rouhani's remarks as 'a political response to occupational demands' and noted that Hassan Rouhani 'reacted to the people's economic slogans by once again raising the issue of post-sanctions businessmen and past large thefts and an untimely diversion to the Turkish coup, saying: 'Well! You do not listen and chant slogans; problems cannot be solved with slogans.' 'Kayhan' also reported on the interruption of Hassan Rouhani's speech in Kermanshah, stating: 'During Rouhani's speech in Kermanshah, while enumerating the effects of the nuclear agreement and the government's services, the people of Kermanshah interrupted the President's speech for a few minutes with slogans protesting recession, unemployment, and astronomical salaries.' This critical newspaper of the 11th government also reported that Hassan Rouhani, in a meeting on the development and investment of Kermanshah province, stated: 'The UN sanctions and nuclear sanctions have been lifted,' but 'Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister, in a press conference stated that in practice these sanctions have not been lifted and the counterpart has only acted on paper.' 'Kayhan' also described Hassan Rouhani's remarks regarding the pay slips in Kermanshah as an acknowledgment of 'the violations of several hundred state managers,' stating that the Islamic Republic President 'in part of his remarks acknowledged the violations of several hundred state managers, emphasizing that it should not be generalized to the large population of active, clean, and dedicated managers in the country.' Simultaneously, Abbas Abdi, in an interview with the newspaper 'Shargh,' emphasized that 'sometimes 40 million is bigger than 3,000 billion,' stating that 'in Ahmadinejad's system, if 30,000 billion were embezzled, it would not be surprising; however, no one in their mind accepts that Mr. Safdar Hosseini would receive such an amount or even half of it.' This reformist figure pointed out that the issue of pay slips 'creates a problem due to its legality,' stating: 'The fundamental flaw is here; otherwise, those who received these salaries would not have received as much news coverage as they currently do. The problem is that you cannot compare this embezzlement with salaries. It is like your brother selling you a product much more expensive than the market price. This will remain in your mind for life until someone comes and, for example, takes all your house. He is a thief, but one does not expect such behavior from their brother.' Abbas Abdi also told 'Shargh' that 'I told Mr. Safdar Hosseini that when you are the head of the National Development Fund, which has 80 billion dollars in it and all eyes are on it; it means you have implicitly accepted a series of issues from the beginning. When your photo is published in a meeting with Mr. Tajzadeh, it is clear what happens afterward. Even if you did not have this salary, you would face problems in executing your work and mission.' The newspaper 'Hamdel,' however, in its front page with the title 'Pay Slips as Serial Killings,' quoted Abdullah Naseri, a reformist figure, comparing the issue of astronomical pay slips to the occurrence of serial killings during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, stating: 'I have previously compared the issue of pay slips to serial killings that occurred in the previous government before the reforms, but the reformist president stood alone and took everyone with him to be able to remove this cancerous tumor from the Ministry of Intelligence. Ultimately, Mr. Khatami succeeded in this regard, and it even led to the dismissal of the Minister of Intelligence.' This reformist figure emphasized that 'the pay slips are similar to this event, and the government, especially the President, should have taken a quicker stance so that a significant portion of the government's force would not be spent on making the people passive, but unfortunately, the government has acted passively in this regard so far.' The newspaper 'Te'dad' reported that on Sunday, the representatives of the 10th Majlis reviewed the bill on the permanent development programs returned by the Guardian Council and 'obligated the government to allocate 5% of the public budget to increase military capability.' This newspaper also wrote about 'the mechanism for increasing Iran's military capability,' stating that in clause (a) of the additional article 2 of the bill on the permanent development programs, it is stated that 'to increase the defensive capability of the country in the regional power balance and ensure national interests and security, the following actions will be carried out through the armed forces in cooperation with the government: enhancing deterrent capability, restructuring the budget of the armed forces, increasing the share of strengthening defense capabilities from the defense budget, preparing and implementing plans for the reorganization and modernization of defense industries and military training centers, improving the quality of military training centers to train efficient forces, saving and optimizing costs including in the areas of energy, water, and electricity of the armed forces, providing and developing human resources and software infrastructures, land defense systems suitable for threatened areas, and enhancing the social status and livelihood of military personnel.' Additionally, according to 'clause (b)' of this article, the government is obliged to take actions to ensure sustainable order and security in the country, including 'providing and developing human resources and software infrastructures, equipment, and facilities at border and specialized posts, implementing border closure plans in border areas considering the climatic conditions of the regions using smart tracking systems, and providing the intelligence capabilities of the Ministry of Intelligence based on the approved plans of the General Staff of the Armed Forces,' as well as 'public security through the establishment of police ranks, police stations, and providing the necessary human resources for the police,' 'creating units and NGOs to develop the participation of border residents,' 'accelerating the identification and recognition of Iranians and foreigners in incidents and accidents and increasing the speed and ability to scientifically detect crimes,' 'creating a genetic identity bank and fingerprints of Iranians and foreigners by the police,' 'qualitatively and quantitatively strengthening the Basij,' 'developing the culture of enjoining good and forbidding wrong and increasing the presence of popular forces in security and defense scenes,' and 'strengthening ways to counter soft warfare,' all of which will be implemented with the allocation of 5% of the public budget to military and law enforcement forces. The newspaper 'Shargh' reported that on Tuesday, July 19, 'the trial of 21 defendants involved in the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran will be held in branch 1060 of the Tehran Criminal Court.' This newspaper noted that 'no news has been announced regarding the public nature of the court, and therefore it can be concluded that the court will be held privately,' stating: 'It has not yet been determined who these defendants are and whether they belong to any specific organization or not.' 'Shargh' recalled the statements of the judiciary spokesperson regarding the arrest of 121 individuals on charges related to the attack on the Saudi embassy, stating that 'ultimately, an indictment was issued for 48 of these individuals, and their case is in the Tehran prosecutor's office, and of course, the cases of about three to four others are also in the clerical prosecutor's office,' but none of those being tried 'are in custody, and the defendants have been released on bail.' The newspaper 'Shahrvand' reported with the headline '30 Days of Anxiety in Shahran' that 'the residents of Kouhsar and its surrounding streets have been living in anxiety for 30 days.' Zahra Jafarzadeh wrote in this report: 'Since the time the massive explosion occurred and fire engulfed this neighborhood, the residents have not seen a single day of peace. One day, the burnt building's tarpaulins fall on the power lines and cause a short circuit that frightens everyone into the streets. One day, the ground at the site of the incident sinks and scares everyone, and another day, firefighters and metro officials come and ask the surrounding residents to evacuate their homes.' The newspaper 'Etemad' has a report on the debate between Hossein Allah Karam and Hossein Alai, two senior and former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, about the acceptance of Resolution 598, stating that in this debate, Allah Karam emphasized that 'the cup of poison was forced upon Imam (Ayatollah Khomeini),' while Hossein said: 'No one could impose anything on the Imam.' Ayatollah Khomeini 'made an important decision, which was to end the war, and by accepting the resolution, the war ended.' 'Etemad' also reported that Mojtaba Zolnoor, a representative from Qom in the 10th Majlis, stated that 'the conservatives' candidate in 1396 (2017) might be Ahmadinejad.' 'AIDS does not kill us, stigma and discrimination do' is the headline of a report by the 'Iran' newspaper, quoting mothers who have children infected with 'HIV.' Taraneh Bani-Yaghoub, in a report for the 'Iran' newspaper, visited the 'Association for the Support and Assistance of Social Victims,' which is one of its main goals to support children infected with AIDS and spoke with several mothers who have children infected.