Ahmadinejad Attends Language Class

Mehdi Khorshidi, the son-in-law of former President Ahmadinejad, has spoken with the former president of Iran. He says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is attending a language class. Khorshidi adds, 'Last night [I saw Ahmadinejad]. A number of people were at the corner, and he was reviewing people's letters.' Khorshidi states, 'Reformism has a background and a thought process. Some say reformism has a political basis. I do not accept its political aspect. A school of thought must be based on ideas and thought. When I say I am ideologically closer to them, I mean my intellectual sediment is closer to them. Because the basis is thought, not politics. When I say the reformists are much more committed to organizational frameworks, perhaps it is due to that unity of thought and ideas. I clearly say that if this thought is like this, my thought is also this, and I am a reformist. But on this side, I do not see a coherent intellectual framework, which is why when I want to say whether Mr. Ahmadinejad is a principlist or not, I am 'doubtful.' Of course, his intellectual roots are much closer to the principlists.' The newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh dedicates its headline and front page photo to a joint meeting of the Hope faction members of the 10th Parliament with Hassan Rouhani, describing it as a 'Meeting of Hope' and writing: 'After being re-elected by the reformists for the elections of 1396, Rouhani met with the Hope faction.' The newspaper Shargh also headlines 'Hope Faction's Complaints Against Rouhani,' stating: 'Hassan Rouhani hosted the Hope faction members in the last minutes of 1395 to hear the representatives aligned with the government.' Ameneh Shirafkan, a reporter for Shargh, notes that in this meeting '12 representatives spoke, and a total of 80 representatives from the Hope faction were present.' She writes: 'Hassan Rouhani spoke mostly about economic issues; even when one of the representatives' main demands was to announce the President's positions and protest some restrictions.' On the other hand, 'the essence of the representatives' words was that the reformists present in Parliament will definitely align and cooperate with Rouhani's government, but the government's approach in the future and the delegation of responsibilities in cities and provinces must be more focused on the presence of government-supporting forces.' The newspaper Etemad chose the headline 'Friendly Complaints, Reformist Support' for a report on 'What Happened in the Meeting of the Hope Faction with Rouhani,' stating: 'Support accompanied by constructive criticism; this is the essence of the meeting on Tuesday between the Hope faction members and the President.' According to this newspaper, in this meeting, Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, a representative from Rasht and the vice president of the Independent faction, spoke about the necessity of 'lifting the media ban on Mohammad Khatami,' and Ahmad Mazani emphasized the need for 'national dialogue.' Elyas Hazrati, a representative from Tehran and the owner of the Etemad newspaper, was also one of the speakers at the Hope faction's meeting with Hassan Rouhani and told this newspaper: 'I told the President that if we consider three heavy projects as part of this government's missions, the first project is the JCPOA, the second project is resistant economy, and the third mission is holding the 1396 elections. The 1396 elections are important in that they are currently in their coldest conditions.' He added, 'There are no signs of vitality among your entourage. If you do not care about yourself, at least care for this nation and for us who support you. Unfortunately, we are in the last week of Esfand, but your election headquarters has not yet started working.' This representative of Parliament pointed out that 'the second point I mentioned to Hassan Rouhani about the vitality of the elections is activating the institutions that are the engines of community movement. The university is at the forefront of these institutions. I told Mr. Rouhani that you have not been able to revive the university. The university has a dead and frozen atmosphere. Your minister still does not dare to grant permits to student organizations. He does not dare to register unions and support student publications or appoint deputies who support all student organizations. The opposing faction has no problems. They have budgets, facilities, and security. But students, organizations, and journalists of the reformist faction face problems. Are you aware that Ehsan Mazandarani has been arrested? Are you aware that at universities, students who supported you and shielded themselves for you have been harmed and are now going to the disciplinary committee for normal daily activities and are being banned from activities? Their publications have been shut down, and they have no motivation to act unless you take action and provide consolation and repair in the remaining time.' The necessity of paying attention to the economic situation and also 'interacting with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic' are among other issues that Elyas Hazrati recommended to Hassan Rouhani, stating: 'I told him we are worried. It is not the case that because the reformists supported you, you will definitely go with millions of votes. We have 50 million voters. You must at least bring in 25 million votes to be able to assert yourself in the region.' Mahmoud Sadeghi, a reformist representative of the 10th Parliament, wrote in a note titled 'Rouhani; Expectations and Opportunities' in the Arman newspaper: 'The Iranian nation has the power of discernment, and the positive actions of Rouhani will be easily seen by society. Society well understands the situation in which the President inherited the country. Therefore, the pressures and restrictions in the areas of livelihood, employment, and unemployment are well understood.' He added, 'The reformists, understanding such a situation, decided for a unified support of Rouhani.' This representative of Parliament also wrote about the meeting of the members of the Hope faction of the 10th Parliament with Hassan Rouhani: 'Since Rouhani's victory in the upcoming elections is relatively clear, the Hope faction has expectations such as increasing interactions between the government and the cabinet, governors, and ministers from the government with this faction, as the Rouhani government received a vote of confidence from the 9th Parliament, but the 12th government must receive a vote of confidence from the 10th Parliament. Therefore, it is expected that the composition of the next government will differ from the current cabinet.' Mahmoud Sadeghi emphasized that 'the Hope faction expects government forces in cities and provinces to cooperate with Parliament representatives in areas such as agricultural development, gas supply, etc.' He wrote: 'Another demand of the representatives is that ministers, the first vice president, the parliamentary deputy, and governors across the country should have closer interactions with the Hope faction,' while it is expected that Hassan Rouhani, if victorious in the elections of Ordibehesht 96, 'will make sufficient use of the experiences of his first government and utilize the opportunities that have been created over the past four years in various political, social, and cultural fields to resolve existing crises.' Meanwhile, the newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in its editorial on Wednesday titled 'The Way Out of the Current Situation,' wrote: 'Sanctions have placed the 11th government on a path that has led to the closure or slowdown of a significant portion of Iran's nuclear activities, and the West has gained more opportunities for influence in Iran through this.' This newspaper implicitly accuses Hassan Rouhani of being supported by the U.S. and Europe in the 96 presidential elections, writing: 'Expressing concern about a possible change in the executive management of Iran during the 1396 elections and recommending strategies to prevent this change has become the main discourse of Western media these days.' Abbas Hajinajari, a former member of the Revolutionary Guards' political bureau, in the editorial of Javan newspaper, accused Hassan Rouhani's government of 'rent-seeking,' increasing liquidity to '1,300 trillion tomans,' 'managing the country like a joint-stock company,' 'growth of share-seeking,' 'cultural laxity,' and inability to manage the economy, writing: 'The greed of enemies regarding the future makes serious transformation in many executive areas necessary, otherwise other strengths of the system in defense, security, etc., will gradually be sacrificed in this appeasement, and then the enemy will be able to rely on that to take its next steps.' The Javan newspaper implicitly emphasizes the necessity of changing executive management in Iran, writing: 'A review of the past movement of the revolution shows that national capacities and capabilities based on revolutionary thought and spirit have been able to take the country through even tougher passages, provided that the well-wishers of the system believe in this capacity and create the space for it.' The newspaper Hamdelii has focused on 'the issuance of a 6-month prison sentence for Hossein Karroubi' and written that Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Mohammad Mogheiseh, has sentenced Hossein Karroubi, the son of Mehdi Karroubi, a candidate in the disputed 2009 presidential election, to 66 months in prison for publishing his father's letter due to the 2009 presidential election. This newspaper quotes Mohammad Jalilian, Hossein Karroubi's lawyer, as saying: 'Mehdi Karroubi wrote a letter to the President on April 21, 1395, reminding him of the request for the implementation of the Constitution and the application of the law regarding himself and requested that a competent court address his charges.' However, 'this letter, which was prepared and signed by Hojjatoleslam Karroubi himself, was subsequently reported by security officials to the prosecutor's office in Evin, stating that given the conditions of Mehdi Karroubi, individuals had acted to release the mentioned letter, and in this regard, a prosecution request was issued for Mohammad Hossein Karroubi, the eldest son of Hojjatoleslam Karroubi, on charges of propaganda against the regime.' Mohammad Jalilian pointed out that 'for these reasons, a criminal charge was issued for Mohammad Hossein Karroubi and reported to Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Mohammad Mogheiseh, and a brief session was held in this regard in court, and my client stated that the publication of the letter is not related to me, and the writer of the letter is Hojjatoleslam Karroubi. However, the judicial authority and the investigator and the prosecutor considered the publication of this letter as an instance of propaganda against the regime, and ultimately in the hearing session on February 30, 1395, Hossein Karroubi reiterated his defense, and I also stated in defense of my client that the writer of this letter is Hojjatoleslam Karroubi, and the mentioned letter is not related to my client, but the judicial authority, given the conditions of Hojjatoleslam Karroubi regarding the publication of the letter in cyberspace, considered the charges against his son as propaganda against the regime, and Mohammad Hossein Karroubi was sentenced to 6 months in prison.' The lawyer of Mohammad Hossein Karroubi stated that this sentence was 'notified' to him by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court on Tuesday and emphasized that immediately after the notification of the sentence, 'I formally announced my objection to the verdict in writing and will provide a detailed and substantiated petition to the court in subsequent stages, and we hope that in the appeal process, what is right and just will be executed and the process of fair trial will lead to a legal decision.' The newspaper Etemad has focused on the results of the 1395 population and housing census, quoting the head of the Statistical Center of Iran as saying: 'According to the 1395 general population and housing census, the total population approached 80 million, reaching 79 million 926 thousand 270 people,' of which 51 percent, or 40 million 498 thousand 442 people, were men, and 49 percent of the population, or 39 million 427 thousand 828 people, were women.' According to Omid Ali Parsa, 'According to the statistics, in 1395, there were 1245 cities in the country, which was about 1139 cities in 1390,' and during this year 'among the provinces of the country, Tehran province had the highest population density with 969.2 people, Alborz with 529.4 people, Gilan with 2180.2 people, and Mazandaran with 137.7 people, while the lowest population density was in Semnan province with 7.2 people, South Khorasan with 8.1 people, and Yazd with 8.8 people.' The Etemad newspaper also quotes the head of the Statistical Center of Iran as saying that the 1395 census shows that '97.8 percent of the total population had Iranian citizenship, 1.98 percent had Afghan citizenship, and four hundredths of a percent (0.04 percent) had Iraqi citizenship.' Omid Ali Parsa stated that the unemployment rate in 1395 reached 12.4 percent, saying: 'In 1395, more than 615 thousand people were added to the employed population of the country,' and the economic participation rate increased from 38.2 percent in 1394 to 39.4 percent in 1395.' According to him, 'During the years 1394 and 1395, a total of one million and 90 thousand people were added to the active population of Iran, of which 615 thousand were employed and 494 thousand were added to the number of unemployed in the country.' Kayhan reported under the headline 'Confession of Those Responsible for the Unintentional Fire of Plasco' that, according to Mohammad Shahriari, the deputy prosecutor of Tehran, the owner of a production company named 'Nastaran' and two workers of this production have been identified as 'culprits' of the fire and the collapse of the Plasco building. Mohammad Shahriari stated that these two workers 'pulled a wire from the ceiling inside the ceiling of about 10 to 15 meters and connected it first to a refrigerator and on some days also connected it to an electric heater to keep warm,' stating: 'Eventually, the wires caught fire due to excessive electrical load, and due to the presence of a large volume of fabric and clothing, the fire started, and these two workers asked those who were in the eighth floor during the Ashura ceremony to help them, but due to the high volume of the fire, these individuals could not take action, and ultimately that great incident occurred.' Kayhan quoted the head of the Tehran Criminal Court as saying: 'Thus, the hypothesis of intentionality of the incident has been eliminated, but the degree of negligence and fault of other involved factors in this incident is under investigation.'