Concealment in Reporting Casualty Figures from Sunday’s Flood

The newspaper Etemad described the statements of Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister, and Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, during the presentation of the Vienna agreement text to Parliament as "nuclear testimony in Parliament." The newspaper Jahane San'at reported on Thursday about "concealment in announcing the casualty figures" from the flood on Sunday in Solqan. The newspaper Shargh also reported that despite three days having passed since the flood, "the figures are still contradictory and, as usual, there is no culprit," but "one interesting point about the performance of Tehran officials is that areas like Kon and Solqan, which are attached to Tehran for various reasons, including their gardens, are not counted as part of Tehran in these incidents, lest the casualty figures be attributed to them." The newspaper Hamshahri dedicated its front page to the "severe criticism" from members of the Tehran City Council regarding the "weak crisis management." Yadollah Javani, former head of the political office of the Revolutionary Guards, in a note in the newspaper Javan, rejected the possibility of a change in the "regional behavior" of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The newspaper Kayhan reported on its front page about a "mysterious effort to reduce expectations from the nuclear agreement," stating: "While the nuclear agreement was supposed to facilitate the release of $150 billion of Iran's frozen assets, a specific group is trying to reduce the expectations from the agreement to tasting fried potatoes and McDonald's hamburgers." The newspaper Qanoon published a report on financial misconduct cases in mines, titled "They dug up the mines and took them away and ate them," reviewing several cases of misconduct and embezzlement in mines, including the "60 billion case of the Jajarm mine," "billion-dollar rent-seeking in the Mahalat mine," and the "1,800 billion tomans embezzlement case of the Kerman copper mine." The newspaper Arman reported that Ali Akbar Siari, Deputy Minister of Health, stated in a meeting with police officials that "420 million liters of alcohol" are consumed annually in Iran. This health official also mentioned that "Iranians smoke 65 billion cigarettes annually, and 30% of the cigarettes in the Iranian market are smuggled." Ali Akbar Siari emphasized that "the prevalence of tobacco use, unhealthy nutrition, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, and biological risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, overweight, and obesity in society makes cooperation between the two institutions increasingly necessary." "Nuclear Testimony in Parliament" The newspaper Etemad described the statements of Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Akbar Salehi during the presentation of the Vienna agreement text to the Islamic Consultative Assembly as "nuclear testimony in Parliament." Journalist Ehsan Badaghi pointed out that "the two and a half hours of reports by Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Akbar Salehi were amidst two and a half hours of efforts by critics of the negotiations," writing: "The weight of the atmosphere in Parliament was such that from the very first moments of the session on Tuesday, the numerous movements of worried representatives to the presidium did not help." Etemad also reported that during the presence of Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Akbar Salehi, "for two and a half hours, Ali Larijani was responding to the critics of the negotiations, critics who also had companions at the presidium; Zargam Sadeghi, Mehrdad Bazrpash, Mohammad Hossein Farhangi, and Mohammad Dehqan. However, the Speaker of Parliament managed to ensure that Zarif and Salehi were sent off without incident, sometimes through serious and stern conversations and at other times through indifference. A flood of papers and notes was coming from the bottom of the chamber and accumulating on Larijani's desk." This newspaper emphasized that "the session was quiet and calm. This made the few movements of the critical representatives more noticeable than ever. The most active among them were people like Seyyed Mahmoud Nabavian, Amir Abadi Farahani, Alireza Zakani, Hamid Rasai, Ismail Kowsari, Hossein Najabat, and Mohammad Dehqan, but the lengthy speech of the nuclear men of Hassan Rouhani's government "had encouraged the vast majority of the Parliament to be mere listeners without any movement; something that did not please the nuclear critics. So much so that Mehdi Koochakzadeh, in a note to the Speaker of Parliament, considered Zarif and Salehi's report as self-talk and self-laughter." Etemad also reported that "Mohammad Javad Zarif's words had been somewhat echoed by his deputy earlier in a different way. However, Ali Akbar Salehi's words were first-hand; words that had not been previously mentioned from any official and public podium. Especially where he spoke about the technical aspects and Iran's nuclear capabilities and recounted some of what it has and does not have; words that seemed to have been previously expressed more in a closed meeting with the representatives but in a non-public session." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the open session of the Ninth Parliament: "Maintaining the dignity and power of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stabilizing the nuclear program, especially enrichment and the Arak heavy water reactor, and their international recognition, lifting sanctions, and ending six threatening resolutions that under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter not only imposed sanctions on the Iranian nation but also prohibited Iran's nuclear program and made preventing the strengthening of the country's defensive and missile capabilities an international duty using all tools." Etemad also reported that Ali Akbar Salehi addressed the representatives of Parliament, saying, "I came here to testify that I accept the religious, moral, customary, and rational responsibility for what we have achieved in the technical dimension," and "what we have achieved is a great and historic achievement, and I am proud of it." The Foreign Minister emphasized that "Iran negotiated but did not pay ransom," stating: "We have never claimed and do not claim that the JCPOA is entirely in favor of Iran, and I reiterate that negotiation is give and take, and as long as both parties do not significantly achieve their demands, an agreement will not be formed. Certainly, to achieve our demands, we have made some flexibility and concessions, but all these flexibilities have been purposeful and calculated." The newspaper Etemad also referred to the "question and answer session between Ali Larijani and Mohammad Javad Zarif" in Parliament, noting that the Speaker of Parliament asked, "You say that a certain matter is not included in the JCPOA and is mentioned in the resolution, and its violation is not a violation of the JCPOA; why do you not say that in the recent resolution, upon the violation of a resolution, the sanctions of the United Nations will return?" To which Mohammad Javad Zarif responded that the sanctions "will not return; the new resolution has no punitive mechanism at all. The only mechanism for the return of past sanctions is through a lengthy 60-day process for resolving disputes, which must start from the Joint Commission, and a three-member monitoring committee has also been established there to provide advisory votes." "Iran's Regional Behavior Post-Agreement" According to a Senior Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Yadollah Javani, the former head of the political office of the Revolutionary Guards, in a note in the newspaper Javan, rejected the possibility of a change in the "regional behavior" of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The writer of the note in the newspaper Javan emphasized that "in the nuclear negotiations, Iran did not retreat from its main position; it only had limitations for clarifying its nuclear program, but the West retreated from its main position and submitted to the will and desire of the Iranian nation," writing: "The Western precondition for changing Iran's behavior does not align with reality." This senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards also wrote: "Iran's regional behavior is shaped based on the unchangeable principles of the Islamic Republic in foreign policy, and this behavior will never change." Yadollah Javani pointed out that "Iran's regional behavior regarding Israel, the Palestinian people, in the context of Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, and Yemen is based on 'principles and general lines that have been shaped and will never change,' and it was based on this that the leader of the Islamic Republic, in the Eid al-Fitr prayer sermons, referred to the negotiations and the summarized text in it, saying: 'Whether the text is approved or not, we will not abandon our support for our friends, Palestine, Yemen, the government and people of Iraq and Syria, the oppressed people of Bahrain, and the honest fighters of resistance in Lebanon and Palestine.'" Yadollah Javani wrote: "Based on the logic of this principled and ideological approach regarding the continuation of the policy of opposing hegemony and fighting against American policies, the leader of the Islamic Republic stated: 'With these negotiations, our policy towards the arrogant government of America will not change in any case.'" The writer of the note in the newspaper Javan emphasized: "Just as the West accepted the reality of Iran's nuclear program by retreating from its arrogant positions, in the future, it will inevitably have to surrender to the realities of the Islamic Middle East and leave West Asia to the nations of this region." "Concealment in Reporting Casualty Figures from Sunday’s Flood" The newspaper Jahane San'at, in its Thursday issue, published a report about "concealment in announcing the casualty figures" from Sunday’s flood, quoting eyewitnesses in Solqan, stating: "Many unfortunate tourists who had set up tents by the river were swept away by the water. The news subtitles on television are lies. Where are the four dead? Every day many bodies are found here." One eyewitness of the flood in Kon and Solqan told this newspaper: "On the day of the incident, road and rescue officials and traffic police were not present. What did crisis management do on the first day? Local people helped the tourists. After a while, the traffic jam continued until six in the morning the next day. People were displaced looking for bread, going up and down the road. The road was blocked, and no assistance was provided. Now, after the deaths and disappearances of this number, step by step, rescue and crisis forces are present. What good does that do now?" A worker at a restaurant near the flood site, who himself rescued several people from the water, told Jahane San'at: "I saw 40 or 50 people being swept away by the water. Those who had taken refuge on tree branches to avoid being swept away by the river's current were rescued by the locals." This newspaper emphasized that "Red Crescent and firefighters say they have no right to speak," noting that "they do not provide accurate information about what they saw on the first day and how the situation is now after three days." One of the officials of the Red Crescent teams also assessed the number of flood casualties as higher than the announced figures, stating to Jahane San'at: "Only on Tuesday, eight bodies were found, and on Wednesday, four bodies were found by rescue forces. How could the total casualties on the first day with that huge number of tourists along the riverbed be only 11?" The newspaper Jahane San'at wrote that this Red Crescent official said, "Six Red Crescent teams are sent daily to various points in Solqan to search for the missing and the bodies," but "does not mention the number of bodies discovered on the first day" and insists that "I cannot announce the casualty figures from the first day." The Red Crescent team official also stated: "After all these experiences of major floods in the country, now after all these years and with current facilities, this flood should not have had so many casualties." Some restaurant owners also told the newspaper Jahane San'at: "Some vehicles have been found, but there are no owners. Their owners must have been killed." Jahane San'at also wrote: "In the camp of Chinese workers who lost their two accommodation halls, vehicles were seen buried under mud." This newspaper reported that after the flood, "everyone has targeted the meteorological organization" and asks, "Why did the meteorological organization not warn earlier so that people would not stay in the riverbeds? Why doesn’t the head of the meteorological organization resign? So many people have died." According to this newspaper, "the complaints of the people of Solqan about the inadequate rescue situation on the first day continue." The newspaper Shargh also reported that despite three days having passed since the flood, "the figures are still contradictory, and as usual, there is no culprit," but "one interesting point about the performance of Tehran officials is that areas like Kon and Solqan, which are attached to Tehran for various reasons, including their gardens, are not counted as part of Tehran in these incidents, lest the casualty figures be attributed to them." This newspaper also referred to the statements of Rahmatollah Hafezi, head of the Health, Environment, and Urban Services Commission in the Tehran City Council, in an open session of the council, quoting him as saying: "The existence of contradictory figures regarding the number of casualties and damages indicates that the National Crisis Management Organization has not yet been able to achieve a precise division of labor based on a specific system among its members for rapid assessment of the incident." Shargh also reported that Rahmatollah Hafezi suggested in this session that "the National Crisis Management Organization should be placed under the President's supervision and, with the permission of the Supreme Leader, the Passive Defense Organization should also be merged into it so that it can engage in cross-sectional policymaking and provide infrastructure and inter-sectoral coordination."