Conservative Newspapers Welcome Arrest of Banking Executives

Conservative newspapers such as Javan, Kayhan, Vatan-e-Emruz, and several others have welcomed the arrest of Ali Rastgar, the former CEO of Bank Mellat, calling it the "beginning of an anti-corruption operation." The newspaper Shargh described this action as "economic arrests by the IRGC's intelligence." Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, headlined its Wednesday issue with "Day of Action Against Corruption," stating: "Tuesday was a day of action against political corruption. Simultaneously with the discovery of the largest smuggling shipment since the revolution and the publication of some news regarding banking arrears and large debts, news agencies reported the arrest of two banking executives following the identification of a banking corruption network." This newspaper identified the "IRGC Intelligence Organization" as the arresting authority of Ali Rastgar and noted that "these arrests could be the beginning of a series of operations to respond to public demands against corruption in Iran, which emerged with the revelation of astronomical salaries." Javan also referred to the detained former CEO of Bank Mellat as "Ali Rastgar Sarakheh," indicating a connection to the birthplace of Hassan Rouhani and his brother Hossein Fereydoun, implicitly accusing the President and his brother. The newspaper reminded readers that the former CEO of Bank Mellat and the bank's international affairs deputy were arrested shortly after "Hosseini Taeb, the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, indicated the possibility of the IRGC's involvement in banking corruption." Javan also reported that on Tuesday, several conservative figures and representatives, including Alireza Zakani, Mohammad Soleimani, Hojjatollah Abdolmaleki, and Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani, criticized the economic situation of the government during a press conference titled "Inappropriate Patch" and stated that "big fish have 90 trillion tomans in banking arrears." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Steadfast Front, also dedicated its front page to Ali Rastgar, linking his arrest to the "discovery of a banking corruption network." Kayhan quoted Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Basij, stating: "When it comes to discriminations like astronomical salaries, we can firmly say that the danger of these economic corruptions is greater than the threat of ISIS." The Basij commander also stated: "This issue cannot be resolved merely by returning assets and issuing a few statements or dismissing a corrupt manager; rather, the offenders must be punished to serve as a lesson, so that no one dares to embezzle public funds again." The newspaper Shargh described the arrest of the former CEO of Bank Mellat as "economic arrests by the IRGC's intelligence," noting that Ali Rastgar was arrested while "he had resigned from his position amid the revelation of astronomical salaries of government and banking executives." The newspaper recalled that previously, on July 22, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, emphasized that "we are monitoring the backdrop of recent violations," stating that "the file of major economic corruption in the country is on the agenda of the IRGC Intelligence Organization" and that this organization is "monitoring the backdrop of such violations." Mostafa Hashemi Taba, the former Vice President of the Reconstruction and Reform government, also wrote in an editorial for Shargh titled "Plundering; Wrong Address," emphasizing that "I am absolutely against large bonuses and what are commonly referred to as astronomical salaries," referring to the remarks of the Tehran Friday Prayer leader and some media outlets that labeled individuals involved in the salary scandal as "plunderers," stating: "When we say the law is the criterion, if someone has received payments legally, even if large, calling them a plunderer at least indicates a misunderstanding of the meaning of words on one hand and a blindness to the real plunderers on the other." The newspaper Etemad dedicated its front page to "the revelation of two financial corruptions" in the previous government, that of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, quoting Mahmoud Shahshahani, the Deputy for Investment and Economic Affairs of the National Retirement Fund, stating: "Only $120 million of this fund's debt in the petrochemical sector was created by one individual during the previous government." This newspaper emphasized that in the previous government, more than 1 trillion tomans were embezzled from the retirement fund, referring to part of the investigative report on the Sabatamin Investment Company, a subsidiary of Shasta, which "shows at least $7.2 million in foreign exchange losses and at least 82.8 billion tomans in damages during this period due to embezzlement and abuse." The newspaper Arman also dedicated its front page to Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, quoting him as saying: "An individual withdrew approximately $2.7 billion from the country's funds, equivalent to four petrochemical complexes." According to this newspaper, Eshaq Jahangiri stated: "Certainly, this individual could not have done this alone, but no one has pursued this issue, and the Iranian people will never forget it, and the names of these individuals will remain in the dark history." This newspaper also wrote: "The recent behavior and approach of the government officials indicate that they are not afraid to inform the people about what has happened in the country over the past years and will follow the path of transparency to show what Rouhani and his men inherited and how they are currently being attacked by those who have interests in concealing the violations." The newspaper Siasat-e-Rooz headlined its front page with "And What Do You Know About Fereydoun," introducing Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of the Islamic Republic's president, as a forced doctoral student in international law at Beheshti University. The headline of this newspaper is an implicit reference to Hassan Rouhani's remarks in October 2014 about illegal scholarships, where he said: "Scholarship, and what do we know about scholarships?" This newspaper wrote: "In 2014, one year after his brother's government came to power, Hossein Fereydoun was introduced to Beheshti University by a letter from the National Organization for Educational Assessment, requesting that he be accepted as a doctoral student in international relations! at this important university of the country, despite the opposition of the Political Science and International Relations Department of this university due to the insistence of the Educational Assessment Organization, he was accepted at this university." Siasat-e-Rooz also noted that Ebrahim Khodai, the head of the National Organization for Educational Assessment, denied any pressure from this organization on Beheshti University, stating: "Hossein Fereydoun was accepted at Guilan University in the evening program, which, if true, is of a higher level than the Beheshti campus," while "Beheshti University was given the discretion to accept him." This newspaper wrote: "The violations of Hossein Fereydoun have also led to a letter from three members of parliament requesting serious action from the president against Hossein Fereydoun." The newspaper Aftab Yazd also dedicated its front page to Hossein Fereydoun, the brother and assistant of Hassan Rouhani, stating that after "the failure of the project to create a personality for Mashaei and Rahimi," conservative opponents of the eleventh government have now started "a new scandal regarding the educational qualifications of the president's brother." The newspaper Hamdeli reported on "Water Wars in the Zagros Mountains," regarding "clashes between protesters against water transfer in Boldaji and the police," which, according to this newspaper, left at least "one dead and 30 injured," with 15 others arrested, and "part of the courthouse building in this city in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province was also set on fire, and several police officers were injured." This newspaper attributed the cause of these clashes to the people's protests in Boldaji against the water crisis, stating: "The large White Dust Steel project lacks a water recycling system and effectively consumes water, which is why its officials resorted to transferring water from other regional sources, including the Chaghakhor wetland." Hamdeli emphasized that "neglecting the water issue and failing to assess the need for transferring water from one region to another, or not paying attention to the construction and operation of infrastructure projects in some areas that are not suitable for such projects, causes a severe psychological impact on the residents of the areas undergoing these complex governmental processes, leading them to take to the streets to express their protests for preserving the water of the city where they live and escaping from drought." The newspaper Farhikhtegan reported on "the causes of blackouts in Tehran," stating: "In recent weeks, we have witnessed repeated power outages in various parts of Tehran. Many reasons have been cited for this, some due to a lack of electricity production and others due to increased consumption; while the deputy for operation and dispatching of the Tehran Electricity Distribution Company stated that these outages, which occurred sporadically in Tehran, were not due to a lack of production but rather due to increased consumption." Kambiz Nazarian, the deputy for operation and dispatching of the Tehran Electricity Distribution Company, emphasized that "the outages are under control and have improved compared to last year," telling Javadnia, a reporter for this newspaper: "Given that the network load has increased, some subscribers are experiencing scattered outages or fluctuations due to increased load from cooling systems like air conditioners." The newspaper Shahrvand has a report about the second court session for the defendants of the attack on the Saudi embassy, in which one of the defendants stated: "We are victims; if the regime wants to have victims in the face of external pressures, I am ready. There is no photo or message of me. Later, I realized that a puzzle had been put together, and we were placed in this puzzle." This newspaper noted that the trial of part of the defendants of the attack on the Saudi embassy has been concluded over two sessions, stating: "In total, the court has addressed the charges against 19 out of 21 defendants in the attack on the Saudi embassy. One defendant was absent, and the case of a cleric who mistakenly came to this court has been sent to the special court for clergy, while the cases of about 24 other defendants are being addressed in the special court for clergy." According to this newspaper, Mostafa Shabani, the lawyer for "defendant M-A," also stated in court that "my client is responsible for the Martyrs Cultural Institute, and 10,000 youths have been trained there," adding: "This institute is bound by law," but "my client has been convicted of disturbing public security due to the gathering, which had no issues, while "these spontaneous movements have become common in society, and we have seen many gatherings in front of the Saudi and Danish embassies before; all the individuals accused in this case, if they had been in wartime, would certainly have participated in the war, as we see that several of these individuals are defenders of the shrine in Syria, and my client has also returned from Syria." This lawyer, referring to the recent remarks of "Admiral Fadavi," the commander of the IRGC Navy, who stated, "If we decide, we can turn Saudi Arabia to dust," said in court: "When the elders of this country take such positions, what actions do we expect from the youth?" The newspaper Shargh reported on "the discovery of the largest smuggling shipment since the revolution," quoting Azizollah Maleki, the police chief of Hormozgan, stating: "With the cooperation of judicial authorities, 17 smugglers of this gang, some of whom were attempting to flee abroad, were arrested, and in addition to these individuals, 23 others linked to this gang from various agencies have been identified and are currently being summoned." However, Qasem Khorshidi, the spokesperson for the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, told this newspaper: "In this case, there was no actual cargo involved; rather, only the smuggling violation of this shipment was discovered, and it is possible that these goods have already been distributed and even consumed in the market." Shargh noted that "this shipment, which carries the title of the largest smuggling in the last 38 years of the country, mainly included consumer goods such as toys, wooden decorative items, household appliances, glassware, crystal, ceramics, and similar items that were imported into the country from Bandar Rajai by circumventing customs through document forgery." In this context, speculations from the newspaper close to the IRGC about a potential one-term presidency for Hassan Rouhani, "30% growth in liquidity," "industry in recession, housing in slumber," the newspapers' perspectives on the Turkish coup, "attacks on the president's brother are intensifying every day," the changing battlefield of "proxies"; the war against the people in the streets of Iran, the first paragraph; the responsibility of the opposition and the possibility of radicalization of Iranian society, the death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis.