Ahmadinejad's Protests Against the Judiciary Will Not End

The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported on its front page that the leader of the Islamic Republic "warned the unfaithful speakers to refrain from repeating the enemy's outrageous lies in the country" and stated: "Tell us what you have done with the country's resources, not that you become the opposition." The newspaper identified Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as one of the audiences of the Supreme Leader's remarks and wrote: "Throughout these weeks of turmoil and debate between Ahmadinejad's team and the judiciary, whispers have been heard and read about whether the Supreme Leader would intervene in this matter. Perhaps everyone was waiting to see when the first meeting and speech of the Leader (Ali Khamenei) after this unfortunate dispute would take place, and Wednesday was the time. In this anticipation, identifying the subjects of the Leader's remarks becomes simple. He does not name anyone or any specific position, but his words are clear: you cannot claim to be above others; you must be accountable." The Javan newspaper emphasized that "the Leader's use of the phrase 'to be the all-in-all of the country' directs minds toward the presidents and not other officials, and then finding examples will not be difficult." It stated: "When he speaks of yesterday and today, he means the current president, the former president, and even the previous president; this is a rule that when you accept the structure, special powers and authorities were granted to you, and the macro management of the country was with you, you must be accountable and not the questioner." The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, mentioned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's share in Iran's executive management as "eight years" and attempted to generalize Ali Khamenei's statements to all governments after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, writing: "For 20 years, the country has been run by those who still hold the government today, Mohammad Khatami, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Hassan Rouhani, and for eight years by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; the budget and all resources were in their hands, and now their supporters, by attributing all shortcomings to the term 'system,' pose as caring for the people, while these gentlemen themselves should be accountable for the current situation, whether bad or good, and not critics." The Farhikhtegan newspaper, affiliated with Azad University, explicitly addressed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the audience of the Supreme Leader's remarks, stating: "It is very clear that the main audience of the Leader's speech is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the former president and the most radical current protester and opponent," because "Ahmadinejad, after an unsuccessful attempt to rebuild himself, has tried to position himself as an alternative to the conventional Islamic Republic and in its entirety, and naturally, the precondition of this strategy is to distance himself and highlight his boundaries with the entire ruling system." Provez Amini, the author of this newspaper's commentary, noted that "Ahmadinejad has come to the conclusion that, firstly, the level of dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic is high, widespread, and deep, and secondly, unlike the Islamic Republic, he enjoys such social popularity that he can realize his dream." He wrote: "Ahmadinejad's above-average self-confidence also convinces him that he will be able to establish the alternative to the Islamic Republic." The Farhikhtegan newspaper predicted three types of responses from Ahmadinejad to the Supreme Leader's remarks, stating that "denying being the main audience of the Leader's speech" and "a position of silence combined with conveying a sense of victimhood and socializing his feeling of victimhood by emphasizing that with the Leader's speech, the door to criticism and protest has been closed" are two possible methods, but in the third scenario, he might welcome "the Leader's entry into this dispute" and even change his "protest and critical and radical approach" to a higher level, meaning a direct protest against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The Farhikhtegan newspaper emphasized that "it was clear that the process of radicalizing his protests against the judiciary and the person of Sadegh Larijani would not end and would directly and indirectly encompass all levels of the ruling system," stating: "The declaration of disqualification and illegitimacy of Sadegh Larijani and considering his presence in the position of the head of the judiciary as usurped was one of the initial signs of this, and it seems that based on previous experiences of Ahmadinejad's behavior and distancing from the system as his dominant strategy, the likelihood of a change in Ahmadinejad's approach despite the Leader's remarks is weak," and it even seems that "inevitably, the outcome of his actions will lead to a confrontation with the Islamic Republic, or in other words, Ahmadinejad is in a position where from now on, the essence of confrontation with the system is unless he proves otherwise in thought and action." The Farhikhtegan newspaper also emphasized that "Ahmadinejad's precondition is incorrect" because "he probably assumes that due to the high cost of confronting him, the Islamic Republic will not bear this cost and in the context of such immunity, he can advance his project," but "this precondition has been violated many times. One of the most important moments was the selection of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei as the first vice president in the tenth government, right after the events of 2009. Despite the Leader's dissatisfaction, Ahmadinejad made this decision at that time with the precondition that in the critical and challenging conditions after the election, while the management of the country is engaged in a widespread dispute, a new front will not open from within, and this situation is actually the best condition for making such a decision, and the potential costs of the Leader's entry into this matter, precisely in this situation where the essence of the system is at risk, is high and will be outside the realm of expediency," just as in the case of "the dispute over the dismissal of the then Minister of Intelligence and the subsequent opposition of the Leader and his 11-day house arrest," it was "expected that by raising the costs, it would lead to a reconsideration of the Leader's decision." This newspaper emphasized that "Ahmadinejad's precondition" is incorrect because "in all these cases, the Islamic Republic and at its head the Leader, have shown that these cost-raising measures cannot negate what it considers right and appropriate. The records of the Islamic Republic during the time of Imam (Ayatollah Khomeini) also confirm this same approach, whether in dealing with Shariati as a source of emulation and Ayatollah Montazeri in the position of the Leader's deputy and whether with Banisadr in the position of the 11-million-vote president," and "the remarks of the Leader on Wednesday and their clarity in critically and protestingly addressing Ahmadinejad also indicated his unyielding nature," just as this "unyielding nature" has been experienced many times, including in "the Friday prayer sermon on June 29, 2009." The newspaper Khorasan also noted in a commentary that there was a part of the Supreme Leader's remarks on Wednesday that "received less attention from the media," where he said, "At that time, I stood firm in defense of the election, and as I announced, despite the pressures, I did not yield to the annulment of the election." Ali Khamenei had said in the Friday prayer on June 29, 2009, that despite a 50-year friendship with Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, his views were closer to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the Khorasan newspaper emphasized that part of his remarks on Wednesday was an attempt to explain "the logic of his positions in 2009," thus wanting to say that "in 2009, in fact, he was not defending a person but defending the principle of elections." The newspaper Etemad also wrote in a commentary: "Although in recent months, the main conservative activists had maintained relative silence regarding Ahmadinejad's positions and those of some of his friends, it now seems that with the Leader's explicit positions, they too will enter the field and announce their positions regarding the behaviors of their former friends." Elias Hazrati, a member of parliament and the director of this newspaper, emphasized in his commentary that the conservatives' silence regarding Ahmadinejad "was somewhat understandable because on the one hand, they were unable to justify their past support, and on the other hand, they believed that by inflaming this issue, they would sink deeper into the political quagmire created. Therefore, except for a few younger and honest conservative activists, the rest preferred silence over announcing a position," and now "we must wait and see whether Ahmadinejad and his friends will continue their past policies or if the deadlines will be forgotten." The newspaper Arman noted that on Wednesday night "Tehran shook again but less intensely," reporting: "The earthquake once again frightened the residents of Tehran. The capital's inhabitants and also the residents of several cities and villages in Alborz experienced a 4.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday morning. Although, unlike the previous earthquake, this earthquake did not lead to the majority of people leaving their homes, a significant number of citizens spent hours in the streets, parks, and cars." The Arman newspaper stated that in this earthquake, "the bad news was the continuation of tremors in Tehran and Alborz, but some experts claim that the earthquake on Wednesday morning was a good sign, as it can be considered an aftershock of last week's earthquake." The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported that "Tehran residents are going through tough nights. The fear of these days is rampant among the capital's residents. From December 21, when the earthquake shook Malard, Karaj, and Tehran, until now, people have endured six hard nights and days. The fear of earthquakes, the anxiety of ground tremors, and the dread of a major earthquake in Tehran that everyone is talking about have robbed the people of their peace and security." This newspaper reported that during the earthquake on Tuesday night, "no house collapsed, but 57 people were injured, and a 58-year-old man also died of cardiac arrest," stating: "The fear of earthquakes and ground tremors caused these individuals to be killed and injured. Those who, during the earthquake, rushed into the streets out of fear and wanted to escape, were injured. Once again, an earthquake left no casualties but resulted in injuries." The newspaper Shahre Vahdat quoted Ahmad Sadighi, the head of the Tehran Disaster Prevention and Management Organization, stating: "The recent earthquake did not create tension on Tehran's fault lines. Minutes after this earthquake, all emergency, service, and police units went on alert, and their readiness continues. With the coordination made by the crisis management from agencies such as the management of Tehran's Mosalla and the management of large stadiums like Azadi, we asked them to open their doors to the people so that those who are afraid of the earthquake can settle in these places." The newspaper Jameh Farda, in a commentary titled "Tehran's Earthquake and Several Points," wrote: "The earthquake last week and on Tuesday night showed that, as always, city managers have no plans for city management, and the people also showed that in crisis situations, they have not been trained to utilize it. Therefore, we have witnessed scattered remarks from managers and the weak performance of the people." According to this newspaper, "institutions such as the municipality and city council have only limited themselves to people going to mosques and parks, which are not even certain if they are safe; or they call the metro a safe structure and give people the hope that the metro is very safe during an earthquake, while our metro stations are one of the most dangerous places during disasters such as earthquakes." Jameh Farda also wrote: "On the other side of the story are citizens who have received no training. The sudden rush to the streets, the consumption of gasoline when air pollution has reached its peak, heavy traffic, parking on the sides of highways, etc., all indicate a lack of social culture in times of disaster, where instead of maintaining calm and doing key tasks, we witness chaos and lack of planning." Hossein Rahimi, the commander of the capital's police force, told the newspaper Iran, close to the government, that "the moral security patrol will deal with those who do not observe Islamic norms and will continue its work in Tehran with full authority." According to this newspaper, Hossein Rahimi "denied reports from some news agencies that stated the police would no longer arrest those who do not observe Islamic norms and would not create cases for them," considering such behavior directed at those who "are negligent" and stated: "Regarding individuals who are negligent in Islamic dress and observing chastity and hijab, the police's approach is that there should not be violent confrontation with this group, but rather, they should be treated respectfully through positive and educational interactions. Also, for these individuals, not only will no cases be created, and no arrests will be made, but classes for educational and behavioral correction will also be held for them." At the same time, the newspaper Shargh reported that Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced "action against massage centers" and criticized "government agencies for addressing social harms," stating: "The police should not be lenient in some cases, including hijab violations in cars, drunk drivers, and dealing with massage therapy centers, and mere warnings are not sufficient." Shargh's front page featured an article titled "Details of the Typographical Error of Mr. Mortazavi," printing images of checks from the Social Security Organization during the presidency of Saeed Mortazavi in favor of Babak Zanjani and wrote: "Mostafa Torkhamdani, the lawyer for the complaining workers in the Social Security case, revealed last week that Saeed Mortazavi, the former CEO of Social Security...