Concerns Over 'Influence of Former Government Members' in Guardian Council Oversight Committees

Pro-government newspapers, including Kayhan, Javan, Vatan-e-Emruz, Hemayat, Khorasan, Siyasat-e-Rooz, Jam-e-Jam, and Resalat, have dedicated their front pages to the remarks made by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on Tuesday. Kayhan allocated the first half of its Tuesday issue to a large photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describing his remarks as a 'warning' about 'influence through the nuclear agreement.' The newspaper quoted Ayatollah Khamenei stating: 'We have decisively closed the path of American influence in Iran and, with all our might, we will not allow economic, political, cultural influence or political presence of Americans in Iran.' The Hemayat newspaper, in addition to Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks, published similar statements from Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, quoting him as saying: 'Changes favorable to America in Iran are a vain dream.' The newspapers Etelaat and Iran published another part of the Supreme Leader's remarks on their front pages, quoting him as saying: 'Iran extends a hand of friendship to all Islamic countries.' The Aftab Yazd newspaper reported an increase in the popularity of the President, quoting Mohammad Sadegh Javadihesar as saying: 'Since Mr. Rouhani had previously announced that the agreement was part of his electoral programs, considering that any government that makes a promise and fulfills it will have satisfied voters, this factor can be seen as a reason for Rouhani's increased popularity.' The newspaper also quoted Fayyaz Zahed as saying: 'The way people reacted on social media, in the streets, and the market shows that the majority of people are satisfied with this agreement, and Rouhani is fortunate to have higher capabilities at the two-year mark of his presidency.' The Shargh newspaper, in a report titled 'The Nuclear Rift Among Principlists,' referred to the reaction of Hamid Reza Moghadamfar, cultural advisor to the IRGC and former CEO of Fars, to the editorial of Kayhan's editor-in-chief as a clear example of 'the nuclear rift among principlists,' stating: 'The nuclear agreement has caused a rift in the principlist movement.' The Shahrvand newspaper reported on '420,000 Iranian girls under 15 marrying in the past decade,' stating: 'According to the latest statistics from the Iranian Civil Registration Organization, from 2004 to 2014, 419,488 girls under 15 and 484,885 boys under 20 have married.' The Qanoon newspaper, while publishing a report on 'concerns about the influence of Ahmadinejad's supporters in the Guardian Council's oversight committees,' wrote: 'Individuals appointed by the Guardian Council to oversee elections have had strong and intense positions and are from the previous government.' The Jahan San'at newspaper reported the possibility of 'widespread blackouts' and power outages, stating: 'The supply and demand for electricity in the country have reached a breaking point, as the operational production of electricity has increased to over 50,000 megawatts, while consumption has also risen to the threshold of 50,000 megawatts.' The newspaper quoted a responsible official, referring to 'the potential surge in industrial electricity consumption in the post-sanctions era,' stating: 'The electricity network cannot handle a 20% increase in industrial consumption, and without new investment, widespread blackouts will begin.' The Etemad, Tejarat, Rozan, and Shahrvand newspapers focused on the statements of the Minister of Economy regarding 'the government's plight on subsidy payment nights.' Etemad quoted Ali Tayebnia as saying: 'Every month we have to pay 3,400 billion tomans in subsidies, and the nights when subsidies are to be deposited are nights of misery for the government.' This newspaper noted that 'the cash subsidy for August was deposited last night, while the government again removed some recipients from the list,' stating: 'The removal of high-income individuals, which began in the second month of the year by stopping payments for 200,000 people, continues to be on the agenda, and it seems the government identifies and adds a number of individuals to the list of those removed every month, while also informing protesters that they can register their objections on the website to reinstate their subsidies and those of their families.' The Shargh newspaper, in its front page titled 'Untold Stories of Land Grabbing in Heyran,' published additional dimensions of this land grabbing case, following statements made by Zero Naeimi-Raz, a representative from Astara in the ninth parliament, who spoke about the involvement of some family members of Kamal al-Din Pir-Mohsen in the Heyran land grabbing case, leading to a confrontation between the two in the public session of parliament. Now, Kamal al-Din Pir-Mohsen, a representative from Ardabil, in an exclusive interview with Shargh, has reported 'the trace of Zero Naeimi-Raz's brother and son in some financial violations,' stating that 'in more than 10 cases of land grabbing and forest grabbing in Astara, the current representative of this city is clearly implicated.'