Concerns of Principlists Regarding the Electoral Position of Reformists

The Iran newspaper, while publishing a photo of Hassan Rouhani's speech at the Student Day ceremony at Sharif University, quoted the President as saying: "Universities need a safe space, not a security one." The Law newspaper also featured a headline stating, "Snow, Tear Gas, and Democracy on December 7," reporting that during the Student Day in 2015, which was a snowy day in the capital, "everything that could happen did, from the cancellation of speeches to the use of pepper spray to end the program and beatings to shut down an event." The Arman newspaper reported on the "firing of tear gas" during the Student Day ceremony at Allameh University in Tehran. The Etamad newspaper also reported that Hassan Rouhani, during his speech at Sharif University, emphasized that "you should criticize power," addressing the students by saying: "Criticizing some branches and institutions is somewhat difficult, so start with the government and the president for now." The Shargh newspaper, with the headline "Criticism is Not a Formality," reported on the speeches of Mohammad Reza Khatami and Ali Motahari at Beheshti University. According to this newspaper, Ali Motahari stated that regarding the events of 2009, he believed from the beginning that there was no single culprit for these events and that three roots could be considered: one being the mistakes of certain institutions, another being the mischief of Mr. Ahmadinejad, and also the failure to comply with the law by Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who should have ended their protests sooner. The actions of all influential individuals in that situation must be considered before making decisions about those events. The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, published a photo of Hassan Rouhani at Sharif University during the Student Day, referring to the event as "minus anti-imperialism." This newspaper wrote that the President's remarks on the day of anti-Americanism were limited to electoral recommendations, presenting positive economic statistics, and praising the government's electoral success in 2013. The Quds newspaper, in a report about "coalition-building 80 days before the elections," quoted Hamid Reza Taraghi, a member of the Islamic Coalition Party, stating that the reformists "want to merge the headless body of reform with the headless body of moderation to solve the poverty issue for participating in the elections." The Farhikhtegan newspaper, while publishing a report on the trial of the "second accused in the oil corruption case," quoted Mehdi Shams, referred to as "M-Sh," stating: "With 49% of the shares of the company Onrair and 51% of the shares of this company, which were transferred to Amin Babak Zanjani, I could have sold the company for $255 million and now be without any problems on the beaches of the Bahamas, like those who fled the country in disgrace, but with the false confessions of responsible individuals, the rubble fell on my short wall." The Shahrvand newspaper reported with the headline "Warning" that "after the death of 33 people due to influenza, a yellow status was declared in Kerman." This newspaper also reported that "after Kerman, the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Khuzestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Isfahan, Tehran, Semnan, and North Khorasan are at risk of a dangerous influenza outbreak." "Suturing as a Professional Responsibility" is a note by Kamibiz Nourouzi, a lawyer, in the Shargh newspaper, referring to the widespread reactions to the news of a child's stitches being pulled at Ashrafi Hospital in Khomeini Shahr, stating: "According to professional principles, in news work, the more exceptional, strange, and rare a news item is, the more its news value increases. On the other hand, the duty to investigate and verify the accuracy of the news and uncover its details becomes heavier and more urgent for the journalist. This news falls into this category, but despite the time that has passed, which is long from a news perspective, we do not see such movement in the media space and efforts to discover details or the accuracy of the news." The columnist of the Shargh newspaper noted that "some criticisms of the common medical ethics in Iran are valid, but it is not supposed to make unfair accusations with vague and ambiguous news." He wrote: "A professional journalist cannot operate with criteria that are common in spaces like Telegram. Sometimes I feel that in some cases, journalism has simplified its work and professional responsibility to the level of Telegram writing and Facebook writing. This trend and method are dangerous for the development and growth of free and independent journalism in the country." Hassan Rouhani: Universities need a safe space, not a security one. The Iran newspaper, while publishing a photo of Hassan Rouhani's speech at the Student Day ceremony at Sharif University, quoted the President as saying: "Universities need a safe space, not a security one." According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani stated that "the university atmosphere in 2015 is very different from that of 2013," saying that "there may still be problems that I do not like and we must continue our efforts to reach the desired atmosphere, but I ask you students, could you gather so easily to commemorate December 7 in 2012 and 2013?" Rouhani pointed out that "there was a time when no one dared to speak of the student movement and was afraid to say this word," stating that "universities need a safe space, not a security one," and emphasized to the students that "the criterion of the system's authority is social capital, and I assure you that the path of the eleventh government towards universities and students and the Ministry of Science has not changed." The Iran newspaper wrote that this time, Student Day was "a day of repeated encouragements and acceptance of criticisms. Both the majority of students continuously cheered to express their support for the President of the Hope and Prudence government in its third year of activity, and Hassan Rouhani, by accepting some criticisms, showed that this government is not one that silences opponents and ignores the voices of critics." This newspaper, close to the government, wrote: "Although the most cheers and support were directed at the President of the eleventh government, Rouhani was not the only focus of the students' slogans. Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister, was also among the other officials whose name was mentioned in the supportive slogans." The Iran newspaper noted that "representatives of some student organizations expressed sharp criticisms towards Rouhani and the government in the presence of the President," stating: "These sometimes sharp remarks were met with smiles and calmness from the President. The majority of those present at the ceremony supported Rouhani, while a minority were critical of the government. The slogan and verbal debates between these two groups, which sometimes led to minor tensions, added a special excitement and fervor to the ceremony." According to the Iran newspaper, "Before Hassan Rouhani's speech at Sharif University, first, Mehdi Iranmanesh, a representative of the student Basij, took the podium and criticized the session's scripted nature, the hope placed in the 'big guy,' and the connection of solving the housing problem to lifting sanctions, and at the end, presented a keychain as a symbol of criticism of Rouhani's electoral symbol [the key] to the President, who was met with the slogan 'Rouhani, Rouhani, we support you' from the students." The newspaper wrote: "The next student, Alireza Zakari, a representative of the scientific associations, responded to the previous student's representative and called for creating conditions for maximum public participation in social groups, asking Rouhani to prevent security confrontations in this regard. When Reza Najabat, a representative of the Independent Islamic Association of Students, took the podium, he asked the President to remove the university from the political games so that students could follow their path. At this time, students expressed their disagreement with this student's remarks by chanting 'Long live Dr. Zarif, long live Rouhani,' although some also supported Najabat by chanting 'Freedom of thought cannot be achieved in a state of panic.'" According to the Iran newspaper, the representative of the Islamic Association of Sharif University also emphasized during his speech in the presence of Hassan Rouhani "the right to education for critical and star-studded students" and "called for a lively political atmosphere to replace the closed atmosphere of the university," emphasizing the need to continue the path of Reza Faraji Dana and Jafar Tofighi, the former Minister of Science and former caretaker of this ministry, "criticizing the security pressures on licensed ceremonies and the detention of journalists, and although he called for lifting the house arrest, after these remarks, "the representative of the groups critical of the government warned against what he called the repetition of sedition in the eleventh government." "Snow, Tear Gas, and Democracy on December 7" The Law newspaper also featured a headline stating, "Snow, Tear Gas, and Democracy on December 7," reporting that during the Student Day in 2015, which was a snowy day in the capital, "everything that could happen did, from the cancellation of speeches to the use of pepper spray to end the program and beatings to shut down an event." This newspaper published short reports of speeches by several political figures at universities, including speeches by Elias Naderan at the Faculty of Economics at Tehran University, speeches by Faezah Hashemi at Tehran University and the absence of Ibrahim Yazdi, speeches by Gholamhossein Karbaschi at Amir Kabir University, Mohammad Reza Khatami, and Ali Motahari at Beheshti University, speeches by Mostafa Moein at Kashan University, and Masoumeh Ebtekar at the Environmental University in Karaj, and even reported that Hossein Dehghan, the Minister of Defense, also spoke at the Medical University of Isfahan, stating: "Students are not the foot soldiers of political currents." This newspaper emphasized that "the Student Day ceremony at Allameh Tabatabai University was accompanied by the taste of pepper gas," reporting that the speeches of Jahangir Khanjani and Azar Mansouri at Chaman University in Ahvaz were "canceled" due to pressure from hardliners. This newspaper wrote: "In the reformist camp, perhaps the most controversial cancellation of a program occurred in Ahvaz," and while the protest against Jahangir Khanjani and Azar Mansouri, two reformist figures, had begun at Ahvaz Airport, "with the presence of some officials, they managed to leave the airport." The Law newspaper also reported that "some principlist media published photos of clashes and beatings at this event." According to this newspaper, "Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was also supposed to go to Tehran University and speak to the students, but he refused to go, and his speech was canceled," and in another incident, "Alireza Zakani, who had gone to Rasht to speak at the Free University of this city, had his ceremony canceled so that the Basij of this university could issue a strongly worded statement against the university officials." The Law newspaper also reported on the Student Day ceremony at Beheshti University in Tehran with the headline "Attracting Students by the Name of the General," stating that to attract and have students attend the speech of Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, at this university, the Basij of this university "had set up a banner claiming that General Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, was invited to the Student Day ceremony, which was to be held in the Aboureyhan Hall or the university's conference center," and even "for this purpose, before December 7, they closed the area around this building with scaffolding as security gates." This newspaper noted that Soleimani did not attend this university, and ultimately, "after an hour's delay, Ezzatollah Zarghami entered the hall" and "at the invitation of the ceremony's organizers, went to the podium and began recounting memories and explaining Islamic teachings," telling stories about his connections with country officials and also making references to the President's remarks and criticizing him. The cancellation of speeches on Student Day at Allameh University followed the firing of tear gas. The Arman newspaper reported on the "firing of tear gas" during the Student Day ceremony at Allameh University in Tehran. According to this newspaper, "The speeches of Mohsen Mehr Ali Zadeh and Mohammad Ali Najafi, which were supposed to take place yesterday at 3 PM at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Allameh Tabatabai University, were canceled due to actions taken in the assembly hall of this faculty," and after "tension and disorder at the end of the open podium, several students left the hall with severe coughing." The Arman newspaper quoted students as saying that "this coughing was due to the use of pepper gas or tear gas in the hall, but so far no individual or group has taken responsibility for such an action." This newspaper noted that "it was predictable that hardliners would not allow the Student Day ceremonies in the country's universities to be held in complete tranquility," writing: "Those who, during the eight years of the ninth and tenth governments, were not accustomed to holding Student Day ceremonies according to the wishes of the majority, also yesterday either canceled speeches or created an atmosphere in which the Student Day ceremonies would not go as planned. The open podium ceremony on Student Day at the Faculty of Law at Allameh Tabatabai University ended in tension and also led to the cancellation of the speeches of Mohammad Ali Najafi, an advisor to the President, and Mohsen Mehr Ali Zadeh, a reformist political activist." According to the Arman newspaper, in response to the tension and firing of tear gas, "protesting students demanded the presence of the university president," and Hossein Salimi, the president of Allameh University, after attending the hall, stated that "the cameras must be reviewed, and then the responsible parties will be dealt with," saying that he had instructed the "security" to follow up. This newspaper wrote that students were not convinced by the statements of the president of Allameh University and demanded a public review of this film, and Hassan Maleki, the cultural deputy of Allameh University, also announced that "the claim that the university's security did this is completely rejected, but the matter will definitely be investigated, and there will be severe consequences for those responsible." The Arman newspaper quoted Hadi Zolqari, the secretary of the Islamic Association of Students at Allameh Tabatabai University, stating: "The identity of the individuals involved in this incident is still unknown."