Battle Against Astronomical Salaries

The newspaper Etemad described the order of Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, to investigate the high salaries of some managers as a 'battle against astronomical salaries' and wrote: 'The first vice president and the speaker of the parliament have called for follow-up and investigation into the issue of million-toman salaries of a bank CEO.' This newspaper emphasized that 'the path to reducing million-toman salaries from the throats of their recipients is not as smooth as before,' noting that 'now everyone is looking for names that are listed on the unusual pay slips,' as 'the slips are appearing one by one in Telegram channels before the audience, and in this situation, not only has no one come out to deny the matter, but investigations to reach the owners of the slips have also accelerated.' Etemad also wrote: 'Eshaq Jahangiri took the critical newspaper report seriously this time,' recalling that previously 'the Kayhan newspaper, in its issue on June 9, published a report titled 'Aristocratic Management Hinders Resistance Economy,' expressing concern for people's livelihoods with a salary of 234 million tomans, detailing the salary and benefits received by the CEO of one of the state banks,' which immediately led to the image of this bank manager's pay slip 'entering Telegram channels and news sites,' revealing that 'the CEO of Bank Refah Kargaran received nearly 230 million tomans under various titles in the last 20 days of the year 1394.' The Hamdeli newspaper also reported on its front page that 'pay slips are under the government's microscope,' stating that Eshaq Jahangiri, in his directive to Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, wrote: 'Please investigate whether these figures are correct. If they are correct, under what title were they paid? Report the results.' This newspaper simultaneously reported that Ahmad Tavakoli, a principlist figure and former member of parliament, praised the first vice president for issuing such an order, writing to him: 'Discovering the names of greedy managers and their like-minded subordinates and the amounts they unjustly consume from the people's pockets does not take much time; it requires your effort and setting aside any embarrassment is a condition for success.' According to Hamdeli, Gholamreza Tajgardoon, a reformist member of the tenth parliament, also reacted to the 200 million tomans salary of one bank manager, stating: 'Last summer, as the head of the Budget and Planning Commission, I requested a report from the Court of Audit regarding payments made by insurance companies and banks; based on this, the Court provided me with a confidential report, and I raised this report, which indicated the unusual payments and pensions of some managers, in two stages with the Minister of Economy and the relevant managers of insurance companies.' Gholamreza Tajgardoon pointed out that 'there was a resolution in the previous government that was also approved in this government' because 'bank and insurance managers were reluctant to work in the public sector due to the significant gap in payments between the private and public sectors,' and the government, with this resolution, aimed to attract 'good managers' in the banking and insurance industry by providing 'extraordinary job benefits for bank and insurance CEOs,' but it was supposed that 'the salaries of bank and insurance managers would be 4 to 5 million tomans' and 'this figure was not supposed to reach 25 to 30 million tomans.' The Kayhan newspaper expressed doubts about the order of the first vice president and the speaker of parliament regarding the investigation and confrontation with astronomical salaries, in a report titled 'Confrontation with Astronomical Salaries; Serious or Show?' stating: 'Will the order of the first vice president and the speaker of parliament regarding the follow-up on the million-toman salaries of some managers end up like the slips of insurance managers, and will people not find out the details of the matter?' This newspaper also wrote: 'While the government canceled a project like Mehr Housing, labeling it as nonsense, why does it not cancel the astronomical payments that it claims are a legacy of the previous government?' The Javan newspaper also emphasized on its front page that 'salaries above 10 million tomans for managers are a violation.' This newspaper wrote: 'The sensitivities in Iranian society regarding the salaries of government managers and institutions that have any dependency on the public budget have significantly increased, to the extent that every day, one of the managers' pay slips, indicating unusual salaries, appears in the media and social groups like Telegram.' The Javan newspaper recalled that the issue of pay slips 'initially began with the disclosure of an 87 million tomans pay slip of one of the senior managers of the Central Insurance in March, just a few days after the Central Insurance incidents, the deputy of the Nursing System Organization also deemed the existence of monthly pay slips of 70 to 90 million tomans in the Ministry of Health as quite natural, even admitting to payments of several hundred million tomans for a few individuals; after the Ministry of Health, the tsunami of disclosing astronomical payments reached the automotive industry, based on the published financial statements of one of the companies in this industry, over 300 million tomans was allocated as attendance fees and bonuses for the board of directors of this company for the year 1394.' This newspaper, however, emphasized that the publication of the 234 million tomans pay slip of the CEO of Bank Refah Kargaran, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, has also raised significant sensitivities because 'this institution is somewhat familiar with the multilayered and complex problems of millions of workers who receive a monthly salary of around 812 thousand tomans,' and it is unclear how within this same institution 'one manager, based on which law and administrative rulings, was able to receive the equivalent of the salaries of 300 minimum wage workers in one month.' The Iran newspaper, close to the government, has a report about 'a tripartite meeting of the defense ministers of Iran, Russia, and Syria in Tehran,' stating that in this meeting, which was held at the official invitation of Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, the Iranian defense minister, to Army General Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, and Lieutenant General Fahd Jassem al-Freij, the defense minister of the Syrian Arab Republic, 'anti-terrorism cooperation between Tehran, Moscow, and Damascus, the achievements of the nine-month operations of the Russian Aerospace Forces in suppressing terrorist groups in Syria, and the situation in Iraq' were reviewed. Nouzar Shafiei, a university professor and political analyst, in a note in the Iran newspaper, pointed out that 'the tripartite alliance of Iran, Russia, and Syria is one of the few alliances that, in terms of security literature, represents collective defense,' writing that 'this alliance should have been a broader coalition around collective security or global security,' but 'the current situation means that the burden that the world should carry is practically placed on the shoulders of Iran, Syria, and Russia.' The writer of this note also emphasized that this cooperation is certainly impactful, as their serious activity at one point completely pushed back terrorist groups, but 'despite these positive aspects in international relations, there are also mistrusts. For instance, at one point, the Russians did not act as they should have, and after a particularly successful intervention, especially in the air, they withdrew their forces from Syria.' The writer also noted: 'Russia must understand that the threats present in Syria will affect Russia more than any other country because many of the terrorist groups fighting in Syria have origins in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation.' 'Internal Settlement' is the title of a report in the Shargh newspaper, accompanied by a caricature of Ali Larijani and Ezzatollah Zarghami about the media battle between the two former heads of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. This newspaper pointed out that Ali Larijani, last Tuesday, while attending a television program, made criticisms regarding the Islamic Consultative Assembly, including saying that 'it was possible to work with 10,000 to 12,000 people in this organization, but suddenly the number of employees in this organization increased to 36,000, which is important,' and emphasized that 'helping cultural sectors in the parliament has not been insignificant; for example, financial assistance to the radio and television was not lacking, but how it is spent is also important.' Mohammad Hassan Najmi in the Shargh report wrote that 'Ezzatollah Zarghami took these criticisms personally and responded to his former boss in his Telegram channel to defend his 10 years of management; a response with five points, at the end of which it was written: the other points of this letter will be presented directly if necessary to prevent misuse by opponents.' In part of Ezzatollah Zarghami's response, who took over the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting from Larijani in 2004, he reminded him: 'The ideal organization that you believe should be managed with 10,000 to 12,000 employees was handed over with 28,000 employees in 2004.' The Shahrevand newspaper, while publishing a report about a fire in Pasargad, wrote: 'It was not yet noon on Wednesday when the fire engulfed the forests of Pasargad and advanced. It progressed so much that different reports are heard about the amount of ash it left behind. One official says 900 hectares, and another speaks of 2500 hectares. An accurate estimate of the burned area is not available; what is known is that 50 hours of the Pasargad forest area burned.' The Vaghaye Ettefaghieh newspaper also published a report on its front page titled 'Red Fire in the Green Forests of Fars,' accompanied by a design by Hadi Heydari, stating: 'The smell of charcoal and the burnt bodies of animals emanate from the latest photos of Pasargad. It took 50 hours to pull the forests of Pasargad from the throat of the fire. Reports have stated that the fire burned 750 hectares of brown bear habitat in the forests of Pasargad, and the area of burned land is reported to be between 2000 hectares and 3000 hectares.' This newspaper published parts of the statements of the commander of the Environmental Protection Unit of Fars Province, who said on the phone: 'On the other end of the line, Mojtaba Shakouraneh, the commander of the Environmental Protection Unit of Fars Province, briefly talks about the fire in the forests of Pasargad. 'The fire was extinguished after two days of continuous burning,' but 'he neither provides statistics on the damages nor details about the 50-hour struggle of the people and state forces with the fire.' Vaghaye Ettefaghieh emphasized that the commander of the Environmental Protection Unit of Fars Province only limited himself to saying: 'Pasargad is extinguished, Bamu is burning. Now is not the time for statistics. We must extinguish the fire. All forces have gone to the mountains to extinguish the fire. I also have to go, and from here on, I have no signal.' The death of Habib Mohammadian, a singer, has received widespread coverage in the newspapers. The Qanoon newspaper, by publishing a design of Habib on its front page, wrote: 'Habib Mohammadian, known as Habib, an old singer, passed away on Friday morning in the village of Niyasteh Katalam in Ramsar County. The cause of this artist's death, who was a singer, composer, musician, and songwriter, has been reported as cardiac arrest.' The Shargh newspaper also emphasized that 'Habib did not die in exile,' writing: 'Habib's return to Iran can be somewhat attributed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision. Although he too could not resolve Habib's issues regarding album release and concert holding in Iran.' The Arman newspaper, while publishing a photo of Habib's face on its front page and emphasizing that 'Habib achieved his wish of dying in his homeland,' wrote: 'The man of the lonely night has passed away.' The Arman newspaper simultaneously quoted Nahid, Habib's wife, stating that this singer 'was 63 years old and had a history of heart problems, thus resuscitation efforts were ineffective; he had passed away at home before being transferred to the hospital for death confirmation.' Habib's wife also said: 'We requested that Habib be buried in front of the Vahdat Hall, and we are waiting for a response,' and for burial, 'the artists' section is our desired location, and we are negotiating in this regard.' The Jahan San'at newspaper on its front page with the title 'The Name You Knew' reported on 'conflicting news about the future of the first producer of household appliances in Iran.' The Hamdeli newspaper has a report about 'protests against a cleric's remarks about the people of Gilan,' stating: 'Protests against the remarks of Hojjatoleslam Nasser Rafiei about the people of Gilan were accompanied by reactions,' as he said on June 8 in Qom: 'During the days of Imam's passing, I was in Gilan, some streets were no different from Europe, some were present with absolute immodesty and semi-naked clothes. The command for good and forbidding the bad has been suspended; the police control that is on belts and speed, etc., should spend 10% on hijab; the government has abandoned culture in the country, and this issue is very dangerous and not good for the Islamic Republic.' This newspaper also referred to the protests from the office of the Friday prayer leader of Rasht and some officials of Gilan Province against these remarks, noting that 'Jabbar Kuchakinejad, a principlist representative of the people of Rasht, also said: 'I advise him to quickly retract his words and rectify this mistake.' 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