Concerns of Principlists About a Newly Established Reformist Party

The newspapers Javan and Siyasat-e Rooz, in their Saturday issue, attacked the newly established party "Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran," describing it as a reformist party and a continuation of the "Participation Party." Both newspapers quoted some Principlist representatives in Parliament warning the Ministry of Interior about the beginning of a new phase of reformist activities and explicitly called for the "non-issuance of a permit" for this newly established party. The newspaper Shargh reported on "the second letter from representatives to pursue the case of Saeed Mortazavi" and simultaneously quoted Hossein Dehdashti, a representative from Abadan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: "Given the recent violations by Mortazavi in social security and the Kahrizak incident, shouldn't there be a reconsideration of previous judgments against him?" The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported on its front page that Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani, referred to the "illegal consumption of vast oil revenues in previous years," stating: "Those with 700 billion dollars should be held accountable." The newspaper Etemad published a report about "the pressure from critical representatives for the impeachment" of the ministers of the eleventh government and "the resistance of the parliamentary board," writing: "The issue of impeachments has begun again in Baharestan, an issue that the parliamentary board is trying to disrupt, at least until the end of the year." The newspaper Arman dedicated its front page to Mohammad Javad Zarif and reported on the "global reaction to the letter from Iran's foreign minister." This newspaper wrote: "After Zarif's letter was sent nearly a month ago and became media news about two weeks ago, a knowledgeable source emphasized that good feedback has been received from the letter by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Several foreign ministers, including those of Saudi Arabia and Russia, have officially responded to this letter," and "the opposing parties in their responses expressed hope that Iran and the 1+5 countries would reach an agreement as soon as possible." The demolition of part of the capital's most famous shopping center, Aladdin Shopping Center, due to construction violations has received widespread coverage in Saturday's newspapers. The newspapers Ebtekar, Etemad, Jahan San'at, Shargh, and Shahre Vahdat dedicated their front pages to the "demolition of the seventh and negative third floors" of Aladdin Shopping Center. The newspaper Ebtekar described this action by the Tehran municipality as a "defeat of the giant" and wrote: "On Friday, the demolition order for the negative third and seventh floors of Aladdin Shopping Center was executed. This shopping center, built 18 years ago at the intersection of Hafez and Jomhouri streets, quickly became the heart of Iran's mobile phone market. The reason for the demolition was reported as lack of safety and illegal construction." The newspaper Kasb o Kar also wrote: "The execution of the order of the Article 100 Commission in Aladdin Shopping Center shows that if the municipality wants and is determined, it can enforce the law against violators, and even influential individuals cannot obstruct the will that is determined to enforce the law." This newspaper reported that "rumors are circulating in the mobile market that competitors of Aladdin Shopping Center have engaged in behind-the-scenes actions to dethrone this shopping center and transfer the heart of the mobile market to other locations." The newspaper Te'dad reported on "the competition among hospitals to attract the wealthy" and wrote: "One of the newest businesses in Iran that has adopted this custom to revive its stagnant market is private hospitals; although the competition to attract wealthy individuals who fall ill or tourists who travel for treatment has not yet intensified." The concerns and warnings of Principlists regarding a newly established reformist party were highlighted in the Saturday issue of the newspapers Javan and Siyasat-e Rooz, which attacked the newly established reformist party, describing it as a continuation of the "Participation Party" and warning the Ministry of Interior about the beginning of a new phase of reformist activities. The newspaper Javan pointed out that "it seems some members of dissolved parties, under the guise of white and identifiable individuals, intend to return to the political arena of the country," describing the formation of the newly established party "Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran" as "the return of the seditionist thought with a new structure." This newspaper, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reiterated the accusation of "overthrowing the regime" against reformists, stating: "The dissolution of the Participation Party by the judiciary in 2009 effectively destroyed one of the most important foundations of the reformists' political activities in the electoral competition space," but now "the reformists and some white members of the Participation Party who have no judicial history are seeking to form new parties to be able to have an effective presence in the political arena of the country." Mehdi Poursefa, a reporter for the newspaper Javan, noted that the request for a permit for the "Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran" has been submitted to the Article 10 Commission of Parties in the Ministry of Interior for a long time, and this commission is currently reviewing the issuance of the permit for this party. Initial reports indicate that the permit for the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran is likely to be issued soon, but investigations show that the founding and main members of the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran are precisely the same extremist elements who are politically "white" and have no criminal convictions or connections to the Islamic Participation Party. This newspaper also emphasized that the reformists, who "on the advice of Mohammad Khatami intend to quickly repair their organization, are planning targeted actions to have a prominent presence in the upcoming parliamentary elections, given the dissolution of their two effective parties due to sedition in 2009, have decided to establish new organizations using lesser-known elements associated with these parties." The newspaper Javan also reported on the reactions of some Principlists to the potential start of a new reformist party's activities, stating: "Some political activists evaluate this trend as the establishment of a new political organization to initiate new seditions." This newspaper explicitly expressed the concerns of Principlists about the "return of the political structures of reformists" and wrote: "It seems that regardless of any political activity, the re-establishment of political structures within society, especially among target groups, is the most important priority for reformists in the coming months. In this context, focusing on political parties and creating non-governmental political groups, albeit under the guise of cultural and charitable activities, constitutes the main strategy of reformists. Therefore, the revival of inactive parties and groups and the formation of new parties by reformists have drawn the attention of political observers, and even some Principlists have warned about this issue." The newspaper Javan also reported that according to Hossein Ali Amiri, the Deputy Minister of Interior, "due to the failure to hold a meeting of the Article 10 Commission [of Parties] last week, a decision will be made on Tuesday of next week regarding the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran." According to this newspaper, the Deputy Minister of Interior stated regarding the possibility of former members of the Participation Party joining the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran, "According to the law, if someone has no criminal conviction preventing civil and social activity, there is no prohibition for them to join political parties." Hossein Ali Amiri noted that a party has a "legal personality" and its members are considered "natural persons," stating: "Those who have requested a new party must have legal eligibility. For example, they should not have a criminal conviction," and while "if a person is a member of a party that is dissolved, if this person has no restrictions, it is not a problem for them to join a new party," but "when a party is dissolved, under that title and with that charter, according to the law and the Ministry of Interior, that party is considered dead." The newspaper Siyasat-e Rooz, which is close to the Principlists, also reported in its Saturday issue about "the opposition to the establishment of the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran" as "opposition to the resumption of the activities of the Participation Party" and "changing faces under the guise of a party." This newspaper wrote: "Eight years of distance from politics also caused the reformists to turn to the traditional right wing and utilize the help of Hashemi Rafsanjani and Nategh Nouri to bring Hassan Rouhani to the presidency, but after Rouhani took power, he did not show much favor to the reformists. This issue caused this movement to think about the upcoming parliamentary elections to return to power. Therefore, the multiple efforts and activities of this movement to gain seats in the tenth parliament have begun," and now "some radical members but without criminal convictions of the Participation Party intend to resume their organizational activities under another name, the Alliance of the Islamic Nation of Iran." The newspaper Siyasat-e Rooz also quoted Abbas Zar'azadeh, the spokesman for the Council Commission of the ninth parliament, stating: "If the Ministry of Interior intends to grant a permit for the establishment of a new party to these individuals who are former members of the Participation Party, it will be dealt with legally by the minister." This representative of the Principlists in the ninth parliament noted that the behavior of former members of the Participation Party is being "monitored" and that "the members of the Participation Party cannot deceive anyone with this approach, and their natural identity cannot be hidden under a legal cover," emphasizing the "necessity of decisive action against these individuals" and stating: "These individuals should not be allowed to operate, and it seems they have a mistaken perception of returning." The newspaper Siyasat-e Rooz also quoted Mohammad Saleh Jokar, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the ninth parliament, describing the Participation Party as "an anti-security and subversive organization" and emphasizing: "It is unacceptable for these gentlemen to return to the political arena of the country under another name. We are confident that the Ministry of Interior will not allow individuals who do not accept the Islamic system to engage in political activities." The newspaper Shargh reported on "the second letter from representatives to pursue the case of Saeed Mortazavi" and simultaneously quoted Hossein Dehdashti, a representative from Abadan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: "Given the recent violations by Mortazavi in social security and the Kahrizak incident, shouldn't there be a reconsideration of previous judgments against him?" Hossein Dehdashti noted that "these days we are trying to propose a plan that considers a mechanism for the violations of individuals in high-ranking positions. If specific individuals from specific ranks commit violations and the violations are established, and many references acknowledge these violations, then what is the outcome? We need to address this situation," stating: "Even some who have been in sensitive positions, we should seek to ensure that those who claim to have a specific position are not immune from prosecution. Of course, I do not mean Mr. Mortazavi, as I believe he is part of it; however, there are questions and issues regarding Mr. Mortazavi that we will discuss with the officials in due time." This member of the inquiry committee of the parliament regarding the social security organization also stated: "The question we have these days is whether the judgments of Mr. Mortazavi have been the same up to this point?" According to the newspaper Shargh, Hossein Dehdashti emphasized that "we expect that if there have been considerations for the non-establishment of a court for [Saeed] Mortazavi and [Babak] Zanjani, at least the representatives of the parliament should be informed of the details of these considerations," regarding the reason for sending the second letter from several representatives to the Speaker of the Parliament and requesting judicial follow-up on the accusations against Saeed Mortazavi, stating: "We have introduced a long list of individuals involved and guilty in the social security case to the judiciary. Summoning them is at least our request to clarify whether our documents are correct or not?" This member of the inquiry committee of the parliament regarding the social security organization criticized the judicial process of such cases, stating: "How can a case be finalized, and others involved in this case are not questioned? Many whispers indicate that Mortazavi's case is nearing finalization, and we do not want this kind of finalization." The newspaper Shargh also quoted Hossein Dehdashti stating: "The main question for us representatives these days is whether the investigative and inquiry tools have executive guarantees or not? If not, my suggestion is to abolish this so-called supervisory tool; so that we do not waste our time and the time of the public and public opinion. If some officials are going to respond to the parliament in this way regarding the processes, it cannot be advanced with cooperation and convergence." The First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani: "Those with 700 billion dollars should be held accountable." The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported on its front page that Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani, referred to the "illegal consumption of vast oil revenues in previous years," stating: "Those with 700 billion dollars should be held accountable."