A Little More Transparency, Mr. President!

The government-aligned newspaper Iran described Hassan Rouhani's televised remarks as a 'report to the people' and quoted the President stating, 'The JCPOA was not a favor from others; we reclaimed our rights.' According to this newspaper, Rouhani emphasized that in the final year of his eleventh government, 'the priority is on economic growth and youth employment,' stating that 'the economic indicators of recent months indicate movement towards achieving 5 percent growth.' The Iran newspaper also positively evaluated the disclosure of astronomical salaries, writing, 'The issue of unconventional salaries has been a significant help in the path towards transparency and fighting corruption.' Elaheh Kolayi, a reformist figure, wrote in the editorial of Iran newspaper titled 'Prudence in the Remaining Year' that 'the government of prudence and hope took over the affairs with the majority vote in June 2013 to save the country from the brink of delusion and daydreaming of the previous government, and once again brought moderation and rationality into the decision-making of the executive branch.' However, now 'after three years, Rouhani's government has less than a year to revisit its electoral slogans' and must 'reconsider the hopes and aspirations it presented to the people, remember the effective and decisive support of its backers, and continue to rebuild this trust in the fight against corruption, rent-seeking, and all the corruptions that hinder the growth and development of the country.' The newspaper Arman, supportive of the government, implicitly criticized Rouhani for not addressing the obstacles and pressures on the government, stating that in the President's televised remarks, 'the unspoken remained unspoken.' Sociologist Amir Mahmoud Harirchi emphasized in a note in Arman on a demand called 'social JCPOA,' stating that 'social JCPOA refers primarily to the issue of citizens' rights,' and it is now the turn of government officials to respond to the patience of citizens, and 'the appropriate response at present is nothing but fulfilling the promise that the President made over three years ago during the electoral campaign: respecting citizens' rights.' This sociologist pointed out that in these televised remarks, as in several recent speeches, 'Hassan Rouhani made the JCPOA and its achievements the main subject of his statements,' emphasizing that 'in this discussion, the economy and improving the economic situation were addressed in pursuit of the JCPOA's completion, but once again social issues were considered secondary and deprioritized.' Sadegh Zibakalam, a university professor, also referred in a note in Arman to 'the President's caution in speaking to the people,' stating that 'Mr. Rouhani spoke again with a conservative outlook and did not accurately address the government's problems, and regarding economic corruption, he only hinted that the root of economic corruption in Iran lies in the corrupt state economy. It was expected that he would speak more about the production of corruption in the state economy and inform the people what the main problem of the economy in Iran is.' The Arman columnist emphasized that Rouhani's remarks were made 'in a complex internal situation,' and in such conditions, he 'while defending the overall JCPOA, accepted the essence of the salary scandal in his speech, but with his manner of speaking, he did not allow the government's opponents to use the pressure of salary scandals against the government any further.' The newspaper Etemad also addressed Rouhani with the headline: 'A Little More Transparency, Mr. President,' emphasizing that 'Rouhani's televised remarks were filled with hopeful numbers, but he should not have spoken of insulting the people, nor did he mention the insulters, he spoke of reducing smuggling but did not mention the sources of smuggling, he talked about positive economic achievements but did not mention the obstacles and barriers to them.' This newspaper also wrote in its editorial on Wednesday that 'the hope in three areas: economic, social, and security, which the Iranian president speaks of positively, is the result of adhering to promises that still remain in his memory, but in this context, economic issues still outweigh other topics.' The Etemad newspaper also criticized a similarity between one of Rouhani's actions and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stating that Rouhani in this televised program 'was forced to do something that is not reminiscent of pleasant memories' and 'the graphs showing statistics on inflation, production, and exports of crude oil and non-oil goods and customs imports.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, also wrote that 'the President in his televised dialogue with the people, which seemed to require at least discussing two main topics: the results of the JCPOA and the astronomical salaries, spoke more cautiously about the JCPOA than before' and even stated that 'the U.S. has not properly tested the implementation of the JCPOA and has not adhered to its commitments.' The newspaper Kayhan also highlighted in its front page, addressing Rouhani and the eleventh government, '1100 days have passed; seize the remaining 365 days.' This newspaper noted that 'three years ago, the eleventh government started with a plethora of promises, and the people were waiting for the realization of all or at least some of these promises,' stating that 'divisions and even contradictions in parts of the government, especially in economic sectors, were a significant factor in the failure to fulfill promises.' Kayhan also wrote that 'to reach a destination, a precise plan and program is needed, but the government lacked a clear theory on the promised topics' and emphasized that 'the level of public support for governments is directly related to the fulfillment of promises.' The newspaper Hamdeli reported on 'the gathering of drivers from the Unit Company in front of Tehran Municipality' and wrote that 'workers who gathered on Tuesday, August 12, for about five hours under the scorching sun on Behesht Street in front of the entrance to the municipality, have a problem with housing; most of them live in the outskirts of the city, from Robat Karim, Islamshahr, and Sabashahr to Roudhen and Boumhen.' Davood Razavi, the spokesperson for the Syndicate of Workers of the Unit Bus Company of Tehran and Suburbs, told this newspaper that this gathering began at ten in the morning, but 'no one has been responsive, and not a single person has come down from the municipality building to respond to their demands.' The spokesperson of the Unit Syndicate pointed out that 'a land belonging to the Unit Company was sold by the municipality for 75 billion tomans in 2007-2008; after that, it was supposed that the money from the land would be used for minimal housing for the workers of the Unit Company, but 'this money has not been managed properly; the former manager was changed, and this project was left half-finished,' and 'now nearly 6,000 people have not received any housing facilities promised to them; about 1,500 to 2,000 people are also involved in various projects where they paid for their houses but were not delivered to them.' Asra Kiani in the report for Hamdeli also wrote that 'despite the calmness of these gatherings, which even included the presence of workers' families with women and young children, five years of imprisonment have been considered for the spokesperson of the protesters by the Revolutionary Court,' and 'the spokesperson of the protesters says that the municipality accepted him as a representative but then began to fabricate a case against him.' The newspaper Shahrvand reported in one of its headlines on Wednesday that 'divorce statistics have been classified,' quoting the director general of demographic information and statistics of the Civil Registration Organization as saying: 'The number of registered divorces has been sufficiently stated, and providing statistics alone does not solve any problems.' This newspaper noted that Ali Akbar Mahzoun said: 'Repetition of the same statements may cause harm, and we avoid that. Whenever practical actions are taken to reduce divorce, we will inform about the effectiveness of the programs.' Shahrvand pointed out that this official from the Civil Registration Organization on Tuesday 'instead of providing these statistics, announced the cases of death and birth in the country. Thus, divorce statistics have also been classified to expand the circle of topics for which numbers can no longer be announced.' Shahla Kazemi Pour, a demographer, told this newspaper: 'In the area of marriage and divorce, the ratio and index should be announced, meaning divorce in relation to the married population and marriage in relation to the single population. Announcing statistics without considering these indices is meaningless.' The newspaper Resalat, in an unprecedented move on its front page, wrote 'Iran is becoming six countries,' emphasizing that this is 'a delusional conspiracy of the West and Al Saud.' This newspaper reported that its source 'wrote Anwar Eshki, a retired Saudi general after returning from a trip to Israel on his personal page,' stating that 'part of Al Saud's delusions regarding the elimination of certain actors from the Middle East map in the near future is completely correct! Two actors whose elimination from the region seems certain are Al Saud and the Zionists.' The newspaper Resalat also reported on its front page 'the Interior Minister's criticism of the hijab situation in government agencies,' writing that Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said in a meeting of the National Social Council: 'Those who enter the agencies are initially employed with acceptance of specific conditions and laws, one of the most important of which is adherence to hijab, so all regulations must be observed.' The newspaper Shargh, in its front page titled 'Zanjani, Zanjani's guarantor,' quoted Gholamreza Mahdavi, a lawyer for the National Iranian Oil Company, stating that Rustam Saidov, 'Zanjani's Tajik partner, has announced that he is willing to issue a bank guarantee for his partner's debt; however, on the condition that as soon as the guarantee is signed, Zanjani is released from prison.' This newspaper pointed out that Rustam Saidov is a local businessman and a member of the board of directors of Asia Express Airlines in Tajikistan, while the official news agency of the Tajik government announced in 2013 that 'Asia Express Airlines is owned by Babak Zanjani.' Meanwhile, the newspaper Noavaran reported that Babak Zanjani's lawyer criticized the lawyers of the National Oil Company for publicizing 'a secret agreement made during a visit by a delegation from the National Oil Company and the Central Bank to one of the foreign countries to settle accounts and pay Babak Zanjani's debts,' stating: 'It seems that there is a will among some to prevent this case from reaching a conclusion.'