Addiction Treatment Center for Children to Open Next Year in Tehran

The newspaper Shargh reported that the World Bank announced that the Iranian Rial ranked second among 27 national currencies in terms of "devaluation" in 2014. The government-aligned newspaper Iran dedicated its front page to a press conference with the foreign ministers of Iran and Italy, quoting Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying that "lifting sanctions will be on the negotiation table next week." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, devoted the first half of its Sunday issue to photos of Mohammad Javad Zarif and Wendy Sherman, noting the Iranian foreign minister's comments about "progress in negotiations and reaching a critical stage," and mentioned that similar hopeful remarks were heard from the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, while the head of the American negotiating team speaks of the persistence of sanctions under the pretext of Iran's support for terrorism and human rights violations. As the date of the Assembly of Experts meeting approaches, speculation about Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's potential candidacy for the Assembly presidency has arisen. Mohiuddin Haeri Shirazi stated in an interview with Javan that the current Assembly of Experts consists of those who either elected the Leader or supported him over the past 25 years in various social events. This situation will undoubtedly continue in the future. The newspaper Arman featured a photo of Mohammad Reza Rahimi and reported with the headline "Rahimi Goes Home from Evin," stating that Rahimi had not been in prison for long, as he was taken to Evin on February 15 to serve a five-year sentence. It has not been long since that date, and few expected him to be released so soon, but according to the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office, the reason for his release was his wife's illness. The newspaper noted the "indifference of conservative media to Rahimi's leave" and mentioned that according to the regulations of the judiciary and the prison organization in Evin, the first leave for any prisoner is granted after serving one-sixth of their sentence. Thus, under this law, Rahimi should have served at least 10 months without leave in prison. However, this law has exceptions. The newspaper Etemad reported that according to a resolution by the Expediency Council, "changing election laws will be prohibited for ten years." Mohsen Roshanpazhouh, the deputy for addiction prevention and treatment at the Welfare Organization, announced in an interview with the newspaper Shahrvand that "a treatment center for addicted children will be established next year in Tehran." The newspaper Shahrvand dedicated its front page to the "destruction of 5,000 hectares of gardens in Tehran over the past 20 years," quoting Mohammad Haqani, head of the Environmental Committee of the Tehran City Council, stating that "in the last two decades, 5,000 hectares have been lost from Tehran's 14,000 hectares of gardens, and if this continues, Tehran will become uninhabitable. The life of some trees in Tehran is also numbered; the municipality must have a serious determination to preserve the gardens." The newspaper Shargh reported that the World Bank announced that the Iranian Rial ranked second among 27 national currencies in terms of "devaluation" in 2014. According to this newspaper, the latest data released by the World Bank shows that "the Iranian Rial had the second highest devaluation among 27 major currencies in 2014, following the Argentine Peso." While the value of the Argentine Peso against the dollar decreased by 32.7% last year, the Iranian Rial saw a 30% decline in value, placing it second in this regard. Shargh noted that the Iranian national currency had the second highest devaluation in 2014, having ranked first in 2013 with a 32.1% decline, and that the value of the Iranian Rial against the dollar also decreased by 13% in 2012 and by 5.1% the year before. Economist Mehdi Taghavi explained the influencing factors on the exchange rate against the dollar, stating that according to an international financial theory called "Purchasing Power Parity," whenever inflation rises in a country, the value of its national currency decreases relative to the dollar as the inflation rate increases compared to that of the United States. He also mentioned a theory called "monetary theory," which states that when the rate of increase in the money supply exceeds that of the United States, the value of the national currency declines. This economist pointed out that "runaway inflation in recent years" has caused the national currency's value to drop to less than one-third during the previous administration. The primary reason for this was the significant increase in inflation during those years, while inflation in the U.S. economy grew at a steady rate. According to the theory of purchasing power parity, this led to a decrease in the value of the Rial. Taghavi stated that "inflation reached over 40% during the previous administration," and one of the main reasons for this was the implementation of the subsidy reform plan and the increase in energy prices. The incomplete execution of this plan led to an uncontrolled increase in the money supply, which, according to monetary theory, further decreased the value of the national currency. Taghavi also noted that "the previous administration handed over the dollar at a rate of 900 Tomans to the tenth administration, but due to mismanagement, the dollar rate rose to over 4,500 Tomans." He emphasized that macroeconomic variables such as unemployment rate, economic growth, and inflation significantly affect the value of the national currency. Haidar Mostakhdin Hosseini, a banking expert, also discussed the reasons for the Rial's depreciation against the dollar, stating that the decline began in late 2011, raising the dollar exchange rate from 10,000 Rials (1,000 Tomans) to over 35,000 Rials (3,500 Tomans) before slightly adjusting to just over 34,000 Rials (3,400 Tomans). This banking expert stressed that "the reasons for this decline are rooted in economic variables and the weak structures and foundations of the country's economy." He stated that one of the central bank's duties is to "maintain the value of the currency," but "the country's dependence on oil revenues and taxes, which are also tied to oil revenues, as economic units are somewhat dependent on oil income, has created a structure that is heavily reliant on oil and impacts other economic variables." The newspaper Shargh also quoted Haidar Mostakhdin Hosseini as saying that during the previous administration, "wrong decisions in the economy, due to a lack of focus on production and a tendency towards increased imports, caused a significant portion of oil revenue to flow into this sector. Alongside this, due to sanctions, we could not inject oil revenues into the country's economy. This led to a shortage of demand for foreign currency for economic units and ordinary people, which caused the dollar price to rise." Mostakhdin Hosseini emphasized that "the drop in oil prices has also been impactful and exacerbated the trend of currency depreciation." He noted that although the current government's policies are more logical than those of the previous administration, the direction taken by this government focuses solely on controlling the inflation index, neglecting other indices, which could worsen the economic situation and ultimately lead to a further decline in the value of the Rial against the dollar. The newspaper Iran, aligned with the government, dedicated its front page to the press conference of the foreign ministers of Iran and Italy, quoting Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying that "lifting sanctions will be on the negotiation table next week." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Javad Zarif, after meeting with his Italian counterpart, participated in a joint press conference with Paolo Gentiloni, stating to reporters: "Nuclear negotiations are approaching critical stages, and we had good and precise discussions last week. Technical-nuclear officials from both countries participated in recent negotiations, and generally, useful discussions took place in the technical area to reach a technical understanding and resolve issues, but differences remain in other nuclear and sanctions areas." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, dedicated the first half of its Sunday issue to photos of Mohammad Javad Zarif and Wendy Sherman, reporting with the headline "Critical Stage of Negotiations," stating that "the Iranian foreign minister expressed in his meeting with his Italian counterpart that the technical discussions of the negotiations appear to be in their final stages, and what remains to be advanced is the issue of lifting sanctions." This newspaper emphasized that "similar hopeful remarks were heard from the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister," while "the head of the American negotiating team speaks of the persistence of sanctions under the pretext of Iran's support for terrorism and human rights violations." The newspaper Javan also quoted the U.S. Deputy Foreign Minister as saying: "Iran's sanctions will remain for a very long time," and simultaneously noted on its front page that "a number of U.S. senators have prepared a bill that requires any potential agreement between Iran and the 1+5 group to be reviewed by the U.S. Congress before implementation." The newspaper Etemad reported that according to a resolution by the Expediency Council, "changing election laws will be prohibited for ten years." This newspaper's front page on March 1 stated: "Changes to laws are now prohibited. This is the sign that the Council is about to install. The Council's serious determination to create stability in laws is aimed at 'election laws' so that they remain stable for at least a decade, without frequent changes and being subject to the electoral mood." According to Etemad, members of the Expediency Council approved other important clauses of the "general policies of elections" on Saturday, deciding that "the scheduling of public elections should be such that the interval between them is about two years, and the stages and executive mechanisms should be as uniform and unified as possible." Additionally, the Council's Saturday resolution states that "comprehensive election laws within the framework of general policies will not be changed for at least 10 years unless necessary and with a two-thirds majority vote for changes in less than 10 years." The newspaper Etemad has evaluated this action by the Expediency Council as "positive," stating that the Council "is trying to create a positive transformation alongside the transformation it intends to make in the country's election laws, aiming for a sustainable transformation; a sustainable transformation for at least a decade." This newspaper reminded that "close to every election, there are whispers of changes in election laws. As we approach each election, lawmakers become sensitive about the clauses of the laws. They look for loopholes and sometimes refer to points that, depending on the country's conditions, they consider a flaw." However, this time, members of the Expediency Council state that "alongside the reforms they make in election laws, they intend to ensure that these laws remain stable. The first way to achieve this desired stability is to prevent sudden changes in election laws. Accordingly, the laws that lawmakers will approve for the country's elections will not be allowed to change for the next 10 years." Etemad also quoted Mahmoud Mohammadi Iraqi, a member of the Expediency Council, stating that "the election law is nearing completion, with only two or three clauses remaining," and that "what was announced regarding the election law has secured the backbone of the policies, but it should be noted that this is a policy, and the parliament must pass laws based on these policies." This newspaper also mentioned another resolution passed by the Expediency Council on Saturday, titled "Determining the Composition of the Central Election Board and Local Trustees," stating that "the implementation of presidential elections, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Assembly of Experts, and city and village councils will be conducted by the Ministry of Interior under the supervision of the Central Election Board, composed of the Minister of Interior as the head, the Minister of Information, the Attorney General, the head of the General Inspection Organization, the head of the Court of Audit, and a representative from the legislative branch elected by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, along with seven individuals from cultural, social, and political backgrounds as trustees." Etemad noted that "the duties of this board and the composition of the duties of provincial and county executive boards will be specified by law," and according to the Expediency Council's resolution, "the Ministry of Interior will invite 30 trustees from various social classes, elites, and professions, whose conditions will be determined by law, in coordination with the Guardian Council, and they will elect seven individuals as trustees for membership in the Central Board." The Deputy of the Welfare Organization: A treatment center for addicted children will be established next year in Tehran. Mohsen Roshanpazhouh, the Deputy for Addiction Prevention and Treatment at the Welfare Organization, announced in an interview with the newspaper Shahrvand that "a treatment center for addicted children will be established next year in Tehran." Elnaaz Mohammadi, in the introduction to the interview with the Deputy of the Welfare Organization, noted that "for several years now, we have been hearing reports from various parts of Iran about the increasing number of addicted children and adolescents," recalling that "two weeks ago, the results of a study on 116 addicted children showed that 51% of addicted children are addicted to opium.