Collecting Signatures for the Trial of Dariush Mehrjui

Opposition from critics of Rouhani's government against Iran's joining the 'Financial Action Task Force' (FATF) has taken on new dimensions, with most newspapers close to the conservatives dedicating their front pages, editorials, or main headlines to opposing it. The newspaper 'Javan', close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), emphasized in its front page that 'the people do not accept the humiliation of FATF', referring to what it described as 'the reactions of figures regarding Iran's joining the international anti-money laundering union'. It noted that these reactions 'began after the rejection of a request from one of the IRGC's subsidiaries for currency transfer by two domestic banks under the pretext of sanctions against the IRGC, with some even referring to it as the approval of a new capitulation'. Mohammad Esmaeili, in the editorial of Javan, called for the parliament and the Administrative Justice Court to oppose Iran's joining the FATF, stating: 'Although the main goal of FATF is to implement standards that significantly guarantee the reduction of money laundering risk, terrorist financing, and financing of weapons of mass destruction in a country, and according to some officials, it is the most important factor in shaping the country's banking relations with the global banking network, the main aim of this task force led by the United States is to stop or reduce Iran's resistant behavior in West Asia by employing a set of informational, supervisory, and banking tools that will ultimately lead to the limitation and even weakening of the IRGC and Hezbollah in Lebanon.' Kayhan even referred to the 'immediate halt of FATF' as a 'public demand' in its front page, stating: 'Sepah and Mellat banks have refused to accept banking transactions for the Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters and Tehran Expansion Company because they are on the UN sanctions list.' Mohammad Imani, in the editorial of Kayhan, described the government's action in signing a memorandum with the FATF as 'self-sanctioning' and warned Hassan Rouhani that 'the President and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economy must put an end to the complacency and acceptance of some poisonous consultations; otherwise, they will place themselves under suspicion of accusations.' The newspaper 'Vatan-e Emruz', close to the Stability Front, also compared Iran's joining the 'special action group' for combating money laundering to the sword of 'Damocles', writing: 'Officials, members of parliament, and economic and political experts have warned about the disastrous treachery of the agreement with FATF.' Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of the nuclear negotiating team during Saeed Jalili's secretariat at the Supreme National Security Council, also wrote in the editorial of Vatan-e Emruz: 'There is now a nearly complete consensus that an action plan similar to what Mr. Tayebnia signed with the FATF cannot be implemented in Iran. Even Mr. Ali Akbar Velayati has confirmed that Iran cannot accept such obligations.' The editorial writer of this newspaper stated that Iran's joining the special action group for combating money laundering is 'part of a larger plan' that includes 'JCPOA, new oil contracts, the Paris climate agreement, the KYC convention, a more dangerous version of FATF that has been secretly negotiated, the Palermo convention, the children's rights convention, and several other issues that may not be the time to disclose now.' The newspaper Vatan-e Emruz emphasized that all these actions are embedded within this 'larger plan' and are a 'dynamic program' that 'attempts to turn the JCPOA into a tool for hostage-taking and readjusting all of Iran's national security decisions' and in this plan 'Iran's behavior is framed through a significant number of agreements, treaties, conventions, and international bilateral or multilateral understandings so that in the medium term it cannot pose a strategic threat to U.S. national security and in the long term all of Iran's national security programs that generate threats against the U.S. are shut down.' The editorial writer of this newspaper emphasized that this 'larger plan' has a 'quasi-legal' nature and tries to ensnare Iran in 'a network of interconnected commitments' and in this regard, we are faced with 'legal warfare' as one of the tools of the new pressure strategy, while 'the focal point of this larger plan is primarily Iran's defensive and security sector, especially those parts that are related to Iran's regional program.' Meanwhile, the newspaper 'Quds' also described the bill for Iran's joining the children's rights convention as 'the trap of an optional protocol for Iranian teenagers' and urged the Islamic Consultative Assembly to 'seriously consider the negative consequences of membership in the children's rights convention.' This newspaper pointed out that 'the bill for Iran's accession to the optional and additional protocol of the children's rights convention regarding the prohibition of the use of children in armed conflicts appears to be a reasonable and logical protocol', writing: 'Considering that according to this protocol, the age of a child is determined to be 18 years, and on the other hand, this protocol seeks to create restrictions on the presence of children in the armed forces, it may create limitations for the activities of the Basij organization among groups such as students and teenagers after Iran joins this optional protocol.' The newspaper 'Shargh' reported on the promotion of Mohammad Hossein Maqimi to the deputy minister of the interior, writing: 'Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, appointed Mohammad Hossein Maqimi as the deputy of this ministry; a new position in the Ministry of Interior' that 'is supposed to coordinate between the deputy ministries of the Ministry of Interior.' This newspaper, recalling that Mohammad Hossein Maqimi has been the political deputy minister since January 2015 and that the most significant event during his tenure was the holding of the Assembly of Experts and Islamic Consultative Assembly elections on February 26, 2016, wrote: now he 'is active in his new position, but the new order for Maqimi has raised ambiguities about the future of the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior.' Shargh speculated that a replacement for Mohammad Hossein Maqimi in the 'political deputy of the Ministry of Interior' would be appointed in the coming days and mentioned 'Ali Asghar Ahmadi' as a possible candidate, writing: 'Ali Asghar Ahmadi is the Secretary General of the Red Crescent Society and the Deputy Coordinator of the Presidential Office, who has a history of being the governor of Golestan and the security and police deputy of two terms in the Ministry of Interior during the reformist government.' The newspaper 'Shargh' also reported on 'collecting signatures for the trial of Dariush Mehrjui', stating: 'After the death of Abbas Kiarostami and the surrounding controversies, Dariush Mehrjui made remarks against the doctors at the hospital where Kiarostami was admitted during a memorial ceremony for this director', and although these remarks 'immediately drew reactions from the medical community', now a number of 'doctors have collected signatures and written a letter to Alireza Zali, the head of the Medical System Organization, requesting judicial follow-up and action against Dariush Mehrjui.' The newspaper 'Etemad' in its front page titled 'Again Acquitted?' wrote: 'Saeed Mortazavi announced his acquittal a week before the court's ruling' and said that 'according to the official forensic expert's opinion, I have been found innocent and acquitted in most cases.' This newspaper pointed out the 'satisfaction' of the former head of the Social Security Organization with the 'forensic experts' report', writing: 'The satisfaction that the forensic experts' report brings to him allows Saeed Mortazavi to be lightened from accusations that include embezzlement and the transfer of 138 Social Security companies in its most significant part.' The newspaper 'Iran' reported on the plan to organize 'street children', stating: 'The plan to identify and attract street children started on August 7 this year and will continue for three months. This plan is being implemented in two shifts, morning and evening, from 9 AM to 3 PM and from 3 PM to 9 PM every day across Tehran.' Monijeh Jabari, a social affairs expert at the Welfare Organization, told Maryam Jahangir, a reporter for the Iran newspaper: 'So far, 274 children have been identified by us and 1,228 by 17 NGOs, of which 44 have been referred to overnight centers. On average, 25 children are identified and organized daily in this plan. 90% of these children have families and guardians. The plan aims to identify 2,000 children.' The newspaper 'Tejarat' reported on 'the City Council of Tehran's vote for investigation from the municipality', stating: 'The capital's urban parliament voted on Sunday for an urgent proposal that paves the way for this council's investigation into the municipality's transfers to real and legal persons.' According to this newspaper, 'the City Council of Tehran voted on this proposal while recent news of the municipality's transfers to specific individuals has caused a stir. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, amidst the insistence of some members of the City Council on violations in the municipality, has called these transfers legal and within the framework of regulations.' The newspaper 'Khorasan' quoted the commander of the police's criminal investigation department as saying: 'More than 40% of murders in the country are committed with cold weapons.' According to this newspaper, Mohammad Reza Moghim emphasized that 'the ban on carrying cold weapons should be pursued and concluded by the parliament as soon as possible', stating: 'According to studies conducted in the first four months of this year in large cities, 60% of murder crimes occurred with cold weapons, and it seems that if cold weapons were not available to the perpetrators of these crimes, perhaps these crimes would not have occurred.'