A Year of Fear and Hope for Iran's Economy

The newspaper Shahrvand reported on its front page on Wednesday that the President, during a "ceremony honoring sports achievers," stated that "success in the most complex political negotiations in world history and achieving a win-win result is a national honor." He said, "Iranian negotiators worked for national interests on a global stage and showcased the precious gem of this society to the world." Hassan Rouhani pointed out that "in 2015, uranium enrichment in Iran was legalized, but it was illegal in previous years," and noted that "before 2015, our banking and insurance relations with the world were suspended, and selling oil above a certain limit was prohibited. We were under sanctions in petrochemicals, aircraft purchases, transportation, and car manufacturing," adding that "during the sanctions, we had to pay at least ten percent extra for currency transfers, but today we have triumphed against global powers, and this is a great national honor." According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani stated that "the second honor of managing the country was the unprecedented reduction in oil revenue," and another success of the eleventh government in 2015 was "the elections, which were vibrant and had widespread public participation." The newspaper Etemad also reported on its front page on Wednesday about the "spring promise of the president," quoting Hassan Rouhani as saying, "2016 will be better." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, criticized Rouhani's statements on Tuesday, writing that "once again, the President used the platform he gained to attack the performance of past governments and praise his own achievements." This newspaper acknowledged mismanagement during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government but wrote, "Although some mismanagements and unprincipled behaviors in the final years of the tenth government overshadowed the performance and services of the ninth government, it seems that in the new government, there has not been a significant event that can cover the gaps and shortcomings of past governments." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Stability Front, wrote on its front page alongside a photo of Hassan Rouhani, "Go work!" This newspaper also published a report on the performance of Rouhani's government in 2015, describing the year as the "emergence and manifestation of the inefficiency of Hassan Rouhani's government." It characterized the government's "diplomacy" especially regarding the killing of Iranian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia as a "disaster" and introduced the people as "deprived" of the Iran-1+5 nuclear agreement, stating, "If we recognize 2015 by days and promises, we can provide a suitable criterion for the government's efficiency this year." The newspaper Jomhouri-e-Islami wrote in its editorial, "After the eleventh government's establishment and the establishment of a technical process and the return of rationality to the executive branch's decision-making space, it became increasingly clear what extensive damages had been inflicted on the country's resources and national interests during the eight years of the ninth and tenth governments." The editorial writer emphasized that "the Iranian economy in 2015 was still grappling with the wrong policies of the ninth and tenth governments," noting that "the general direction of the government is correct," but "the reality is that eliminating the effects of past mistakes and several years of severe sanctions requires time, patience, wisdom, and of course, internal synergy." The newspaper Sharq, on its front page, wrote "The Smell of Gunpowder, the Smell of Smoke," stating, "Last night was the eve of Chaharshanbe Suri, and once again, in the style of all past years, Tehran and many other large cities in the country were scenes of similar events: explosions of firecrackers and small homemade bombs, fireworks, sending small balloons into the air, and a little fire lighting and jumping over it." Sadra Mohaghegh in the newspaper Sharq noted that on the evening of Tuesday, while writing the report on Chaharshanbe Suri incidents, "the sounds of massive and large explosions still came from outside, and the distant and near explosions turned the city into a real battlefield," writing that the tradition of jumping over fire, which "was previously one of the main symbols of Chaharshanbe Suri, has now become a forgotten and secondary part of the event," and other traditions like spoon knocking and fortune-telling have also been forgotten, but "the place of these old and joyful customs has been taken by Chinese bombs, firecrackers, and explosive glitter. Mohammad Zahedi-Asl, a social worker and university professor, in a note in the newspaper Arman, pointed out that "initial reports from Chaharshanbe Suri incidents indicate that the ceremony once again caused significant human and financial losses," calling for "returning Chaharshanbe Suri to the right path." The writer emphasized that "negative behaviors" regarding Chaharshanbe Suri "have led to a tight situation," noting that "in recent years, instead of cultivating a culture in this area and educating, we have banned and restricted it," but "when there is no space for expressing this joy and releasing emotions, the situation becomes such that young people, teenagers, and even families come to the streets, and since there is no proper and precise planning, risky behaviors harm them." This social worker and university professor emphasized that to return Chaharshanbe Suri to the right path, "first, we must recognize this ceremony, secondly, engage in cultural promotion, and for example, explain the true nature of Chaharshanbe Suri through the media, and thirdly, provide the necessary conditions for holding safe ceremonies on the last Wednesday of the year." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, evaluated Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks in a meeting with a group of clerics and seminarians in Qom as a "warning against any attempts to remove revolutionary elements from seminaries" and quoted him as saying, "I feel a sense of danger." According to this newspaper, the Supreme Leader stated, "If we want the Islamic system to remain Islamic and revolutionary, the seminary must remain revolutionary because if the seminary does not remain revolutionary, the system will be at risk of deviation from the revolution." Simultaneously, Abbas Hajinajari, in a note titled "Characteristics of Revolutionary Spirit and the Danger of System Deviation" in the newspaper Javan, wrote that one reason for the Supreme Leader's "warning" is that "external enemies and their internal agents are trying to label committed forces to the revolution as extremists and to use infiltration and soft warfare to make them passive and isolated in society." The writer of the newspaper Javan also noted a second reason for this "warning": "Neglect by influential personalities and institutions such as seminaries and revolutionary institutions in educating and training new generations or even preserving these spirits in older generations causes the weakening or dimming of those characteristics, and it is then that the danger of deviation can be taken seriously." The newspaper Hemayat, affiliated with the prison organization, also mentioned in a note the three priorities of the Supreme Leader as "resilient economy, scientific leap, and cultural safeguarding," stating, "The lines of culture, economy, and science form a triangle of an advanced Islamic society when they are endowed with Islamic-revolutionary substance." Mohammad Sadegh Koshki in the note of this newspaper wrote, "It is unclear how long the people and society must bear the consequences of some officials' disregard for the teachings of revolutionary Islam in the country's issues and where the border of this negligence lies," and "the public demand for this request" by the Supreme Leader "shows that the people must also pursue this demand of the leadership." The newspaper Kayhan in its editorial on Wednesday wrote, "Contrary to what the opposing Western and non-Western parties of the resistance front say, the reduction of Russian operational forces in Syria indicates appropriate progress and relative stability in Syria." Saadollah Zarai in the editorial of Kayhan also referred to the improved situation of Ansarullah in Yemen and "relative calm in Iraq," naming 2015 as the year of "victories for the resistance front," stating, "All of this has occurred due to the efforts of the resistance front with Iran at its center." The newspaper Qanoon reported with the headline "Assad Without Putin" that "the Tsar's army has packed its bags and intends to say goodbye to the land of Sham; this news was so unexpected that even the White House announced it was shocked." This newspaper noted that "it is still unclear how many aircraft and how many military personnel will return to Russia, but this shock will likely soon show its effects," writing, "We must wait and see what news comes from the war-torn land of Sham in the coming days; are we in a period of calm before the storm or calm after the storm?" The newspaper Jahan San'at reported with the headline "A Broken New Year's Gift" that it has approached market prices on the eve of Nowruz and estimated that "the average expenses for the New Year's night for a four-member family" in Tehran is "1,168,500 tomans." This newspaper, recalling that "the New Year's gift for government employees was 688,000 tomans," wrote that the average expense of 1,172,000 tomans for a four-member family for Nowruz is "very high compared to the low salaries and meager gifts and high costs related to rent, purchases, and other expenses."