After Land Grabbing and Mountain Grabbing, 'It's Time for Desert Grabbing'

The newspaper Ebtekar has published a report on the 'culture of apology' among officials, stating that 'the courage to apologize among the men and women of the government of Hope and Prudence is noteworthy,' while noting that 'Iranians have long sought to hear apologies from their leaders, but such words have rarely been seen in response to shortcomings and failures.' Hamid Chitchian, the Minister of Energy in the eleventh government, in an interview with Shargh newspaper, referred to the water crisis in Iran and excessive extraction from groundwater, stating that 'it will take 20 years to return to conditions from 30 years ago.' Following reports in Iranian newspapers about cases of 'land grabbing,' 'mountain grabbing,' and 'sea grabbing,' the Arman newspaper reported on the appropriation of part of the central desert of Iran, stating, 'It's time for desert grabbing.' The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in its editorial titled 'Theorizing the End of the Revolution through Moderation,' referred to a recent interview with Saeed Hajarian in the monthly Andisheh Pouya, stating that 'the path Hajarian has designed for Rouhani is not in method but in the result of the same pure reformist ideals, namely the end of the revolution's names. It is hoped that Hajarian's interpretation of Rouhani's government and the President himself is an illusion; if Rouhani's government is like this, then we must think about the Islamic Revolution.' This newspaper emphasized that 'the experience of the past two decades shows that this theorizing, alongside other theorizing such as constitutionalism, secularism, republicanism, dual sovereignty, and democracy-seeking, will hit a stone wall.' The Shahre Vahdat newspaper, in a report titled 'A Serious Warning,' examined the social consequences of unemployment, stating that 'the social structures of the country produce unemployment.' The Resalat newspaper also quoted Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the Tehran Friday Prayer Leader, stating, 'America seeks to infiltrate through normalizing relations' and 'they want to make Iran like Andalusia.' The Shargh newspaper reported on the response of Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization, to former negotiators, stating, 'There may be a brave person who goes to put the core of the Arak reactor back in place and lives there with his wife and children; what for? Is bravery about these matters? They want to endanger 80 million people just to say they are brave. Safety issues in nuclear activities are different from safety in Iran Khodro. If something happens in Iran Khodro, it only affects that radius. Have you seen events like Chernobyl?' According to this newspaper, Ali Akbar Salehi also stated, 'They say we took the right to enrichment and so on; well, if that's the case, you should have signed the document and finished the work.' This newspaper also reported that 'the challenge over the JCPOA continues. Despite the defeat of Republican opponents of the agreement in the US Senate, the commission that the Iranian parliament created to review the JCPOA continues its work. The text of the negotiations of the Iranian parliament's JCPOA commission, unlike the negotiations in the US Congress, which were broadcast live and directly on television channels, is reflected selectively and with delay by state media.' The Iran newspaper focused on the 'joint statement of the leaders of three European powers in defense of the agreement,' stating that 'the British Prime Minister, the French President, and the German Chancellor announced their full support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), referring to its implementation as the basis for a permanent resolution of the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.' The Qanoon newspaper dedicated its front page to Ebrahim Yazdi, the Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement, quoting him as saying, 'The nuclear agreement is a historic opportunity for national unity.' The Jahan San'at newspaper featured a photo of Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, at the Cinema House celebration, quoting him as saying, 'I am not influenced by the media and parliament.' The Etemad newspaper, in its front page titled 'Untold Stories of the 3,000 Billion Toman Embezzlement,' published an interview with Mohammad Jahromi, the Minister of Labor in Ahmadinejad's first government. This newspaper also has a report on the successes of the 'campaign protest' in Iran, quoting Mahdi Farghani as saying, 'The formation of campaigns is a sign of citizens becoming empowered.' The culture of apology in the eleventh government: The Ebtekar newspaper published a report on the 'culture of apology' among officials, stating that 'the courage to apologize among the men and women of the government of Hope and Prudence is noteworthy,' while noting that 'Iranians have long sought to hear apologies from their leaders, but such words have rarely been seen in response to shortcomings and failures.' This newspaper pointed to the lack of accountability and lack of apology from officials, especially during the ninth and tenth governments, where every criticism was met with justification, deflection, and even attacks on the critic, stating that this situation had led 'Iranians to completely dismiss the thought of hearing apologies from government officials, but the eleventh government has surprised the people during this time.' In the latest example, 'Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesperson for the eleventh government, showed that the eleventh government intends to institutionalize the culture of apology among its officials by apologizing for the delays that caused traffic jams on the Tehran-Karaj highway and announcing that the completion of the highway leading to Karaj will be achieved by next year.' This newspaper emphasized that 'hearing these words from the government spokesperson, following the apology of Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, regarding his harsh words about the campaign to boycott domestic cars, reignited the flames of hope among the nation,' as Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh also apologized to the people during a television program regarding his controversial remarks, stating, 'I did not insult the buyers.' The Ebtekar newspaper also noted that 'the important point is that the pioneer of these politicians was the President of the eleventh government, who, on February 6, 2014, in his third televised interview regarding the commodity basket, apologized to the people, saying that people faced difficulties in receiving the commodity basket. As President, I apologize. This government, if there is a deficiency, tells the people and apologizes to them.' This newspaper emphasized that 'over the past two years, we have repeatedly witnessed apologies from Hassan Rouhani's associates,' citing examples such as the apology of Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, to parliament representatives in response to their protests and demands for him to provide examples of the entry of dirty money into elections, the apology of Abbas Akhoundi, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, to the people for the lack of complete services in the Mehr housing project, the apology of Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, to the Supreme Leader and the people for a misquote, the apology of Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President, to Iranian families for the lack of jobs for many young people, the apology of Masoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, for not being able to attend in Khuzestan during the dust crisis in that province, and the apology of Mahmoud Hajati, the Minister of Agriculture, to wheat farmers for the delay in paying for guaranteed wheat purchases as examples of apologies from senior officials of the eleventh government. The Ebtekar newspaper also noted that 'the eleventh government's action in promoting the culture of apology has occurred while the people have faced years of fraud and forgery of educational credentials, accusations, embezzlement, and many other issues during the ninth and tenth governments, but no one was accountable, and not only did they not accept their mistakes, but they were also unwilling to apologize.' According to this newspaper, even during the publication of corruption allegations against Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended his first vice president, stating, 'If Rahimi's embezzlement is proven, he will come on television and apologize, saying that he is not worthy of this position,' and three years after these statements, Mohammad Reza Rahimi was convicted and imprisoned, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'did not fulfill his promise.' The Ebtekar newspaper wrote, 'Since the culture of apology is not customary among Iranian politicians, this event in the eleventh government is noteworthy, and it can be said to be a step forward, but such apologies in the world are accompanied by changes and improvements in quality; now it seems that after culturalization in the field of apology, we should think about the stage of change and improvement in the desired events.' The Minister of Energy on the water crisis: 'It will take 20 years to return to 30 years ago.' Hamid Chitchian, the Minister of Energy in the eleventh government, in an interview with Shargh newspaper, referred to the water crisis in Iran and excessive extraction from groundwater, stating, 'It will take 20 years to return to conditions from 30 years ago.' The Minister of Energy stated, 'In the first stage, we will try to stop the negative balance in the next five years. That is, to prevent excessive extractions. This will be the balance that should occur. However, the annual balance is such that if we want to return it to the stability of 30 years ago, it will take more time.' Hamid Chitchian emphasized that it will take 20 years for Iran's groundwater to return to conditions from 30 years ago, stating that 'out of 609 plains in Iran, currently 330 plains are prohibited; this means that in these plains, the groundwater balance is negative,' and based on the resolution of the Supreme Water Council, two goals have been set: 'The first goal is that in the short term, we can eliminate the negative balance. That is, we create a balance between extractions and the entry of water into groundwater resources, and in the second stage, which takes about 20 years, we will gradually try to make the balance positive and compensate for some of the past negative balance each year.' According to the Minister of Energy, 'the average rainfall in Iran in recent years has reached 207 millimeters, in addition to the fact that the average temperature of the country has increased by 1.2 degrees, and the increase in temperature has led to more evaporation of water resources; as a result, with reduced rainfall and increased evaporation from the available water, renewable water has been severely reduced, such that this figure has decreased from 130 billion cubic meters to about 110 billion cubic meters. In contrast, consumption has increased significantly. With the increase in population and high consumption these days, we are in a special situation regarding water resources, especially concerning groundwater.' Hamid Chitchian mentioned that 'in relation to surface waters, the amount of runoff in the country's rivers has decreased to about 60% of previous runoff, and if we consider the stations as a criterion, runoff has decreased to below 50%,' which 'part of this water is illegally extracted by people along the way.' The Shargh newspaper reported on the Minister of Energy's reference to the decrease in rainfall in the current water year, stating, 'Less than a month remains until the end of the water year, but statistics show that the average rainfall in the country has been 189 millimeters, which is a 13% decrease compared to the same period last year and a 21% decrease compared to the long-term average.' Hamid Chitchian also spoke about the 'risk of water rationing' in some areas of Iran, stating, 'We have gone through very critical conditions in four provinces. Drinking water in the cities of Sanandaj, Kerman, Bandar Abbas, and Bushehr had very critical conditions this year,' but with the measures taken in Sanandaj, 'through two emergency plans and one long-term plan, we overcame the problem; however, in the other three cities, we still face serious water issues.' According to the Shargh newspaper, Hamid Chitchian addressed citizens who believe '90% of water consumption is in agriculture and that pressure from officials on the household sector for consumption management, while the main problem lies elsewhere,' stating that 'this perception is incorrect. Because the quality of agricultural water is very different from drinking water quality,' and 'approximately one cubic meter of drinking water costs ten times more than agricultural water; therefore, if we save one cubic meter of water in the drinking sector, it will yield ten times more agricultural water for us.' The Minister of Energy also stated, 'Due to the limitations we have in populated centers, sometimes we transfer drinking water over 300 kilometers, while we do not have long-term transfers for agricultural water. Now in Zahedan, we transfer water from a distance of 150 kilometers. In Mashhad, we transfer water from a distance of 180 kilometers from the Doosti Dam. This transfer distance comes with multiple pumping stations; in Mashhad, for example, we have six pumping stations.' According to Hamid Chitchian, 'a very high cost is incurred for providing drinking water,' which 'due to the difficulty of providing drinking water, both in terms of quality and distance, incurs significant costs. The result is that we must save both in drinking water and agricultural water, but the value of these two is not the same.' 'It's time for desert grabbing': Following reports in Iranian newspapers about cases of 'land grabbing,' 'mountain grabbing,' and 'sea grabbing,' the Arman newspaper reported on the appropriation of part of the central desert of Iran, stating, 'It's time for desert grabbing.' This newspaper referred to the appropriation of part of the central desert of Iran in the Farahzad area, 'the last residential area of the desert in the Khur and Biabanak region of Isfahan,' stating, 'Land grabbing is no longer limited to forests. It is not even limited to flat and level land; it is not limited to land at all. Forest grabbing, sea grabbing, and now desert grabbing in Isfahan,' while 'there is still no law that criminalizes an activity called land grabbing.' According to the Arman newspaper, about three kilometers from the village of 'Miser' in the central desert, there is a small settlement called 'Farahzad' located among the sand dunes.