$30 Million Lost on Airplane

The newspaper Shargh in its front page on Wednesday titled "$30 Million Lost on Airplane" quoted Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, stating: "To avoid upsetting the people, we do not disclose many issues. At one time, a group decided to bring money from a foreign country during the sanctions. They were handed $130 million at the central bank there, and upon returning to Iran, they delivered $100 million to the central bank; when asked about the missing $30 million, they say they do not know, it is lost, and it is still lost to this day." The newspaper Jahan San'at in its front page titled "Inflation Behind Inflation" reported: "The latest report from the Statistical Center of Iran indicates that the point-to-point inflation has increased by nearly one percent compared to the previous month, rising from 6.5 to 7.4 percent, marking the second consecutive month of rising point-to-point inflation." This newspaper also reported that the Statistical Center of Iran in its new report announced "inflation at 8.7 percent," stating that this index "shows at least a 2.8 percent increase in food items compared to last month" and "it is unclear what fate the purchasing power of the people will face with inflation returning to the path of increase." The newspaper Jahan San'at characterized the first three years of Hassan Rouhani's government as "controlling the inflation rate" and noted: "It seems that expansionary policies have begun in the country, while rising inflation has created a new deadlock in the livelihoods of families and their purchasing power" because "even during the days when the Iranian economy experienced a decrease in inflation, and the government touted it as a winning card of its management, official reports from the central bank indicated the rising prices of consumer goods." The newspaper Arman, which had reported a secret meeting between one of the reformist leaders and Hassan Rouhani a few days ago, in its Wednesday issue quoted Hassan Rouhani stating that this meeting took place between Mohammad Khatami, "the President of the Reformist Government," and Hassan Rouhani. Hassan Rasouli, a close figure to Mohammad Khatami, told the Arman newspaper: "After the supporters of Mr. Rouhani, who had allied with the reformists in the parliamentary elections, did not fulfill their promises, a discussion took place between the President of the Reformist Government and Mr. Rouhani, where the President of the Reformist Government conveyed his and the reformists' grievances regarding this issue to Mr. Rouhani." This reformist figure pointed out what he described as "misconduct by some ministers of the government contrary to the direction" of the reformist and justice-seeking coalition, stating: "The betrayal of some individuals in this coalition has led to the loss of some important pillars of the tenth parliament for the reformists," and for this reason, in the meeting with Mohammad Khatami, "Mr. Rouhani accepted this grievance and stated that he would admonish these ministers." The Arman newspaper also quoted Hassan Rasouli stating: "We have grievances about the lack of cohesion in the government. When the President, as the head of the executive branch, takes a position in front of the Hope faction, which is the supporting faction of the government, some ministers and cabinet members should not take a different position and cause division in the government's positions." Hassan Rasouli emphasized that "the support of reformists for Mr. Rouhani in 96 will be critical support," stating: "The reformist movement will introduce candidates during Mr. Rouhani's term, not alongside him. If the reformist movement introduces candidates alongside Mr. Rouhani, about 50 percent of the reformist base will shift towards another direction, and this division will ultimately benefit the political rivals of the reformists and Mr. Rouhani." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in its front page on Wednesday quoted Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a senior cleric from Qom, stating: "The government's income from Telegram is not worth its harms" and "I cried upon hearing the report on the virtual space for the youth of the country" because "in Telegram, immoral anomalies, especially illicit relationships with relatives, are widely promoted." This newspaper emphasized that Mahmoud Vaezi on Tuesday spoke somewhat differently in a meeting with active clerics in the virtual space, stating: "We must have our own native social network; it is not logical and is not secure for the information of 20 million users to be stored outside of Iran's borders, allowing them to manipulate this information." The Javan newspaper emphasized that "the peak of the Minister of Communications' remarks is when he said: we do not accept the continuation of Telegram's activities," writing: "Government-affiliated news agencies have focused on another aspect and reported that foreign virtual networks can operate in the country as long as their servers are located within the country." This newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, evaluated the Minister of Communications' remarks about Telegram as similar to the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance's statements regarding the halt of music concerts in Mashhad and somewhat as a retreat, writing: "The President recently boasted to his Ministry of Communications that the internet and virtual space were active during the parliamentary elections and were the main players in the country's atmosphere; however, despite this, his minister does not share this view and says we are not in favor of Telegram's activities in Iran." The newspaper Etemad in its front page titled "Arrest of the 28 Million Euro Greek Man" reported: "Mahmoud Eslami, the CEO of the National Pension Fund, announced the arrest of a Greek individual" who "in a transaction failed to return 28 million euros of the pension fund's money." The newspaper Iran has a report about "280,000 traffic fatalities in 10 years" and quoted Taghi Mehri, the head of the Traffic Police of the Law Enforcement Force, stating: "One of the important and fundamental issues at the national level is the issue of accidents and especially the fatalities resulting from traffic accidents. Studies over the past 10 years show that more than 280,000 people have lost their lives in traffic accidents in the country; thus, the issue of traffic fatalities is significant, and the highest number of fatal accidents has occurred in the month of Shahrivar." This newspaper recalled that "the statistic of 280,000 traffic fatalities over the past 10 years exceeds the number of martyrs from the eight-year war." The newspaper Iran, referring to the statements of Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, wrote: "Russian planes left on Friday; the coalition remains intact." According to this newspaper, "While most media interpreted the positions of Tehran and Moscow's diplomatic officials on Tuesday as indicating the end of Russian fighter jets' flights from the Hamadan base, Ali Shamkhani announced that "the Russian planes left Nojeh according to the ground operation design last Friday." The newspaper Shargh, however, based on the statements of Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, wrote: "The flights of the Russians from Hamadan continue." This newspaper, raising the question of "Did the Russians leave or not?", wrote: "The day after Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that the temporary cooperation of Iran and Russia at the Nojeh base has currently ended; Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated: the flights of Russian planes have not stopped." In this context, the Russian Ministry of Defense intervened and announced: "The mission of Russian planes using the Iranian airbase for bombing positions in Syria has been completed; however, the possibility of using the Hamadan base again in the future remains open if the conditions in Syria warrant it." Shargh reminded that the presence of Russian fighter jets in Iran and the flights conducted from the Nojeh airbase were met with reactions, including "some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly referring to Article 146 of the Iranian Constitution, which prohibits giving military bases to a foreign country, reacted to this cooperation, and 20 of these representatives in a letter to Ali Larijani requested a closed session on this matter." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Front of Steadfastness, in its editorial on Wednesday named the diplomacy of Hassan Rouhani's government as "voluntary isolation" and described it as "prescription writing" for Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas branch of the Revolutionary Guards. Zahra Tabakhi, in the editorial of this newspaper, emphasized that "importing foreign policy is more dangerous and destructive than importing any other essential commodity," writing: "If we can attract the cooperation of countries like China, Brazil, and even the rational elements of the European bloc, who are terrified of the imminent opening of the Turkish borders and the rebellion of refugees, hopes for creating a new order in the region and ending war and bloodshed will be revived; however, focusing on unsupported policies such as 'irresponsible retreat' will only expand the circle of insecurities towards the internal borders and guarantee a descent into the club of power losers." The Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper also wrote: "Collapse following the promotion of a McDonald's-concert policy inside, in the name of supporting open cultural doors, in a society where its basic needs such as housing, marriage, and employment are neglected, and externally recommending voluntary isolation in the phase of superpower status is unattainable, as there remains no component for reproducing national power domestically, whether in defeating foreign power or hoping for internal movement and effort in the path of resilient economy." The newspaper Hamdeli reported on "corrupt auctions" regarding "the behind-the-scenes efforts of smugglers to participate in the auction of their confiscated assets," writing: "Some importers used other methods and purchased their goods as smuggled goods or abandoned smuggled goods that were with the relevant authorities, including the Organization for Collecting and Selling Seized Properties." This newspaper even quoted Qasem Khorshidi, the spokesperson for the Anti-Smuggling Goods and Currency Headquarters, stating: "Goods such as vehicles over 2500 cc, whose import is prohibited, are imported, but the importer does not approach them at customs so that these goods become confiscated and abandoned; in the next stage, the vehicle is handed over by the court to the relevant authorities, and the relevant authority puts it up for auction, and ultimately the same individual comes and buys the smuggled goods that he himself imported; meaning that the corruption in conducting auctions and sales is considerable." Kayhan reported the arrest of "a member of one of the committees of the Iranian negotiating team on charges of 'espionage'" and wrote: "The dual-national suspect, while serving as a consultant and board member of some banks, was among the high earners of the government, receiving about 7500 pounds (about 30 million tomans) monthly in exchange for providing various internal information to institutions influencing sanctions." Kayhan did not name the arrested individual, but unofficial media had identified him as "Abdolrasoul Darya Isfahani" on Tuesday.