A Parliament That Does Not Seek Economic Opening Will Ruin the Country

As the one-week period for the "advertising" of candidates for the tenth round of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections begins, the newspaper Etemad describes the week leading up to the voting day as the week of "campaigns, lists, and posters," stating: "Advertising will continue until the sixth of Esfand, after which any form of advertising, even in cyberspace, will be prohibited." The newspaper Khorasan also quotes Siamak Rahpeyk, spokesman for the Central Supervisory Board of the Guardian Council, stating: "If a candidate violates the rules, their qualifications will be re-evaluated." The newspaper Etemad reports on its front page that Mohammad Reza Aref, speaking at the "Vote for the Awakened" conference at Allameh University in Tehran, said: "We need gray votes." The newspaper Qanoon emphasizes in its editorial that "gray votes do not go into the conservative box," and for this reason, conservatives are trying to dissuade the "gray audience of the political arena" from voting. The editorial writer of Qanoon refers to some psychological operations by conservatives in the media and social networks over the past few months, stating that these actions were "nothing but preparing the ground for a more crushing blow of disqualification," as conservatives know they must turn the electoral readiness of reformists and moderates into unpreparedness and then, by striking at their hopes, present their own candidates as the people's choice. According to this newspaper, the conservative faction has so far failed to "create a boycott atmosphere" and exploit it to their advantage, but they are trying to use their media, including television programs, to instill "indifference" among the people. The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Steadfast Front, implicitly criticizes the policies of Hassan Rouhani's government, including the purchase of Airbus planes, introducing the eleventh government as a symbol of "capitalist" and "Western-oriented" governance, stating: "Voting for pro-capitalist options is a form of anti-revolutionary action." This newspaper also attacks Qanoon for publishing a note criticizing the imitation of "Daesh-like shows," stating that this "offensive article" should be seen as a continuation of the extremist remarks made by Hashemi Rafsanjani years ago, which aligned with terrorists, attacking the Syrian government and accusing it of using chemical bombs against its people. The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also quotes the Supreme Leader as saying: "A parliament that does not seek economic opening will ruin the country." This newspaper also reacted to the electoral list of reformists in Tehran, stating: "Not a single economist in the thirty-member list of reformists." Kayhan also quotes Ali Khamenei on its front page, stating: "A parliament intimidated by America will empower the elite and ruin the country," while simultaneously reporting on "diminishing support for Rouhani on the eve of elections." Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of Ali Khamenei in Kayhan's editorial, wrote that BBC, Radio Farda, and VOA tell people not to vote for revolutionary figures, especially Jannati, Yazdi, and Mesbah, and that now Rafsanjani and some other reformist and moderate claimants must clearly and unambiguously position themselves against the loudspeakers affiliated with American and British intelligence services, showing a clear boundary with external labeled enemies; otherwise, it will be evident that "there is something hidden in this matter." As attacks by conservatives against Hassan Rouhani, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and reformists escalate, the newspaper Iran reports with the headline "Decoding the Destructive Project of Opponents of Moderation," stating that the destruction of the government's economic achievements is being done for electoral purposes. According to this government-aligned newspaper, Es’haq Jahangiri, first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, described the attacks by conservatives as "malicious comments" and "rambling," stating: "Those who provide false directions should not be taken seriously." Masoumeh Ebtekar also told Iran newspaper: "The tactic of extremists is to cloud the atmosphere and create despair among the people," while simultaneously, Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, warned about the "negative impact of these attacks on attracting foreign investment." Ali Mirbagheri, a university professor, wrote in this newspaper that the "advertising engineers" of the conservative faction engage in "polarizing the political atmosphere" during every election, sometimes calling it the "Revolutionary Front – Compromise" and at other times the "Insider and Outsider Front," but today this method is nothing but an "outdated model of electoral destruction." Mohammad Sadegh Janan-Sefat, a journalist, also wrote in a note titled "Noble Critique, Base Critique" in Iran newspaper that criticizing the government is a legal right but stated that "the etiquette of critique dictates avoiding the use of offensive and populist terms, phrases, and expressions" and that critique should not harm national unity or fragment society and turn the hopes and aspirations of the people into nightmares and fears. The writer of the Iran newspaper noted that "the opponents of the eleventh government in these days leading up to the elections have prepared various packages of criticism of the government in the areas of foreign policy, culture, record, and economic programs, and are making use of numerous media to present them to public opinion," stating: "A timely and skillful response to the expertly prepared critique packages by the critics is the duty of the government and the presidential administration, which unfortunately is not being done well or swiftly." The newspaper Shargh also reported with the headline "All Eyes Closed," noting that "Babak Zanjani, as one of the symbols of financial corruption in Iran's history, is an example of events that conservatives are trying to escape from under its shadow," emphasizing that "Kayhan newspaper, in a surprising move, attempted to associate images of Babak Zanjani with Hassan Rouhani and Hashemi Rafsanjani, trying to attribute Zanjani to the Reconstruction government to perhaps lessen this burden. However, the mistake was that this reverse maneuver, given the numerous documents and, according to Kayhan's own writers, undeniable evidence, at least in this case does not work." This newspaper wrote that according to the indictment of the Tehran prosecutor's office, "the July 7, 2012 resolution signed by Hosseini, the Minister of Economy, Ghodsfari, the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Rostam Qasemi, the Minister of Oil, and Mahmoud Bahmani, the head of the Central Bank" in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government was for "depositing 14.5% of the foreign currency resources from oil sales" into Babak Zanjani's bank account, which became the "launching pad" for this financial corruption suspect, and even the contract for transferring Social Security companies between Saeed Mortazavi and Babak Zanjani was "coordinated with Ahmadinejad." Masoud Kazemi, in a report for Shargh, emphasized that "the movement to change the parliament has confused and suicidal conservatives," writing: "The story of conservatives fleeing forward does not end with Babak Zanjani; the extent and volume of corruption remaining from that government is not limited to this one example; conservatives who turned a blind eye to all mismanagements and economic corruption of that government for eight years now have no choice but to pose as fighters against corruption." The newspaper Etemad also wrote in a note titled "The Vicious Cycle," stating: "Work requires capital; capital needs security, and security is not achieved through rhetorical and hype-filled speeches." This newspaper wrote: "The dignitaries who rightly raise their voices against the recession of the economy and the unemployment of youth, why do they overlook the injustices that caused this situation and do not adhere to the initial requirements of their commands and orders?" The newspaper Kargozaran also criticized the "unethical actions" during the elections, stating: "With dirty hands, can one clean a glass?" and can "one invite others to observe and sweeten the moral virtue while eating unethical dates?" Davood Soleimani, a reformist figure and a representative of the sixth parliament, told Hamdeli newspaper that "the experience of parliaments that remained silent in the face of Ahmadinejad is before us," stating: "People will not vote for Ahmadinejad's partners."