Continued Attacks by Principlist Newspapers on Mousavi and Karroubi

The newspapers Kayhan and Javan continued their attacks against Mousavi and Karroubi in their Wednesday issue. Kayhan reported that participants in the rally on December 30 demanded the 'execution' of Mousavi and Karroubi. Javan, referencing a text message published by Mir Hossein Mousavi, called for increased restrictions on the house-arrested individuals, stating: 'What kind of house arrest allows a person to challenge the political system?' The newspaper Ta'adol noted that on Tuesday, 'the parliament issued its second yellow card to the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of the eleventh government,' stating that the representatives of the ninth parliament 'effectively made him a two-card minister; making him the most likely candidate for impeachment after the impeachment of Reza Faraji Dana.' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz dedicated its front page to air pollution in Tehran, reporting under the headline 'Breathless' that 'the air pollution index of the capital was in an unhealthy state for all groups for several consecutive days, making breathing in the capital difficult.' The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on the 'hidden roots of Tehran's pollution,' stating that research by the Environmental Committee of the Tehran City Council shows that 'aside from the role of fixed and mobile pollutants, factories, and vehicles, which have always been the focus of experts, the source of air pollution in the capital is a neglected factor,' which is 'the trend of destruction and conversion of gardens into buildings.' The newspaper Etemad reported on the publication of a joint statement by the government and parliament regarding the '4 billion dollar incident,' describing this statement as 'a document of acquittal' for the government against the accusation of 'unauthorized withdrawal of 4.1 billion dollars from the National Development Fund.' The newspaper Javan questioned, 'What kind of house arrest allows Mousavi to challenge the political system?' The newspapers Kayhan and Javan continued their attacks against Mousavi and Karroubi in their Wednesday issue. Kayhan reported that participants in the rally on December 30 demanded the 'execution' of Mousavi and Karroubi, and Javan, referring to a text message published by Mir Hossein Mousavi, called for increased restrictions against the house-arrested individuals, stating: 'What kind of house arrest allows a person to challenge the political system?' Kayhan, which is published under the supervision of the Supreme Leader's representative, featured a photo from the December 30 rally on its front page, showing some participants holding a placard that read: 'The seditionists, Mousavi, Karroubi, must be executed.' This newspaper also reported on the rally against the 2009 protesters in various cities, quoting them as saying: 'We do not forget, the seditionists must face the harshest punishment.' Kayhan also stated: 'Mousavi, Karroubi, Khatami, must be executed,' 'the darkness of sedition cannot be cleansed by any sunlight,' 'O judicial authority, take revolutionary action,' 'we do not forget the crimes of the sedition leaders,' 'the execution of the treacherous and criminal leaders of the 2009 sedition is the least demand of the epic makers of December 30,' and 'sedition is our red line' were the themes of some of the placards at the December 30 rally. The newspaper also reported that on December 30, 'Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guards, spoke in Zanjan, Ahmad Khatami, one of the Friday prayer leaders of Tehran, spoke in Mashhad, and Hassan Abutorabi-Fard, the deputy speaker of parliament, spoke in Qom, Ali-Reza Zakani, a principlist representative in Yasuj, and Heydar Moslehi, the former Minister of Intelligence, spoke in Ahvaz, and Ghorbanali Daryanajafabadi, Ali Saidi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards in Kerman' spoke against the 2009 protesters. At the same time, the newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, published a note referring to the publication of Mousavi's message on internet sites and social networks, stating: 'The publication of statements attributed to one of the sedition leaders who is under legal house arrest in cyberspace and anti-revolutionary media in recent days has raised significant points worthy of consideration.' Mohammad Javad Akhavan, in a note for Javan, posed the question, 'Do audiences of these media not ask themselves what kind of house arrest allows a person to continue challenging the political system and have their statements leak out and be publicized?' He wrote: 'According to statements from relevant officials, no change has occurred in the status of the sedition leaders,' but 'it seems that media affiliated with the seditionists are cleverly and intelligently trying to gauge public and relevant authorities' reactions by publishing these statements.' The newspaper Javan raised the possibility that 'some may naively believe that the legal authorities of the country are seeking leniency or even lifting the house arrest of these individuals and that these statements are a sign of the beginning of this process,' writing: 'The rightful public demand of the Hezbollah community from relevant authorities has been and remains the condemnation of the sedition leaders to the harshest punishment, and it is by no means acceptable for the current situation of some political elites to tempt them to fish in this muddy water and seek to strengthen their social capital through leniency or even a sense of tolerance towards the seditionists.' The note writer for Javan described the publication of Mousavi's message from within house arrest as a potential sign of 'return and normalization' for those referred to as 'seditionists' and wrote: 'It seems that some of those seeking to open doors for the sedition leaders are suffering from a kind of embarrassment with a small part of their apparent social capital, which coincidentally has a loud voice and an aggressive spirit like the seditionists. The loudness and aggressiveness of this body cause the voice of the majority, who have other demands including improving their livelihoods, to go unheard, just as in 2009 a wealthy class tried to make the voice of the silent majority unheard with loud cries and uproar.' The newspaper close to the Revolutionary Guards implicitly warned Hassan Rouhani and government officials against any 'leniency' in this regard, writing: 'Have the leniency seekers and facilitators, who are trying to appease this small class out of embarrassment, thought about the next part of the story? Have they not asked themselves whether opening the doors to activities for the seditionists will rob them of the very social capital they are so eager to win over, and that this specific class will no longer remember them? Are they not afraid that this group will also pass them by?' The note writer for Javan emphasized that 'with these interpretations, the reality of the scene is not outside of two possibilities: either there are indeed hidden efforts underway to prepare the ground for the seditionists, which the insightful Iranian nation will not allow to succeed, and in the event of success, the main loser will be the very current that foolishly paved this path.' The newspaper also wrote: in the second scenario 'the field actor [the government] is intelligently active in this scene and with the tactic of 'slow and steady' is firstly preventing the failure of its social capital and on the other hand does not allow the seditionists to find a rival for themselves in the political arena,' and 'the seditionists and their supporters, just as they were once deceived by the dominating system and became the foot soldiers of the imperialist and Zionist ambitions, this time are also being toyed with by a smart political current that knows well how to use the pieces.' The second yellow card from parliament to the Minister of Industry and Trade; 8 yellow cards to 7 of Rouhani's ministers in a year. The newspaper Ta'adol noted that on Tuesday, 'the parliament issued its second yellow card to the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of the eleventh government,' stating that the representatives of the ninth parliament 'effectively made him a two-card minister; making him the most likely candidate for impeachment after the impeachment of Reza Faraji Dana.' According to this newspaper, 'the representatives had asked the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade to respond regarding the excessive importation of luxury cars and strategic goods,' while 'the entry of luxury cars is a legacy that has remained since the previous government; a time when some representatives who are now protesting were indifferent to it.' The newspaper Ta'adol noted that Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh was present in parliament on Tuesday to answer questions from Zahra Tabibzadeh and Nasser Mousavi Largani about the import of luxury cars, rice, and sugar, stating: 'Regarding sugar, despite the fact that its 110% tariff was reduced to zero in 2013, the excessive importation of this commodity has intensified. Regarding rice, in the first 8 months of 2014, a total of 1,956,000 tons of foreign rice were imported, most of which were orders from 2013 and early 2014.' According to the newspaper, the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade referred to the reduction of luxury car imports in the current government, stating: 'In 2009, a total of 41,628 foreign cars were imported into Iran, of which 31,000 were over 2500 cc, meaning that 75% of imported cars were over 2500 cc. This amount decreased to 23,000 cars in 2010, to 18,000 cars in 2011, and to 16,000 cars in 2012 due to the categorization of goods, resulting in a decrease in the import of 2500 cc cars.' According to the newspaper Ta'adol, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh told Zahra Tabibzadeh: 'According to your statement, half of the production of a foreign car manufacturer has been imported into Iran, while according to the existing statistics in this German company's system, 165,000 vehicles over 2500 cc have been produced in this factory, of which only 6 have been imported into Iran.' The newspaper also quoted Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh as saying: 'They say we are lying, but the liar is the one who has no documented statistics.' According to the newspaper Ta'adol, 'after the minister's responses to these two representatives' questions, both representatives, Zahra Tabibzadeh and Nasser Mousavi Largani, announced that they were not satisfied with the minister's responses,' and after that, 'the board of directors conducted a vote to inquire about the representatives' opinions regarding the minister's explanations, which ultimately resulted in 102 votes in favor, 87 votes against, and 15 abstentions, with the representatives not finding the minister's responses satisfactory.' This newspaper noted that 'the yellow card' issued on Tuesday by the ninth parliament is the second yellow card to Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, recalling that earlier on July 15 of this year, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had issued the first yellow card to the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade. According to the newspaper Ta'adol, since December 7, 2013, Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economy, Reza Faraji Dana, the former Minister of Science, Ali Jannati, the Minister of Islamic Guidance, Asghar Fani, the Minister of Education, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, each received a yellow card from the ninth parliament, while Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh has received two yellow cards so far. The newspaper Etemad also published a report on the second yellow card issued by the ninth parliament to Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, stating that members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second government issued yellow cards to 8 of his ministers over four years, but after 16 months of Hassan Rouhani's government, 8 yellow cards have been issued to his ministers, and Reza Faraji Dana, the Minister of Science of the eleventh government, has also been impeached and dismissed from the ministry. Introducing the 'hidden roots' of Tehran's pollution. The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz dedicated its front page to air pollution in Tehran, reporting under the headline 'Breathless' that 'the air pollution index of the capital was in an unhealthy state for all groups for several consecutive days, making breathing in the capital difficult.' This newspaper reported, citing Hassan Abbasi, the spokesperson for Tehran's emergency services, that 'in the past 24 hours, 263 heart patients and 129 respiratory patients have been transferred to hospitals.' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz noted that although the capital's air has been in an unhealthy state for several consecutive days, the emergency committee has not been willing to close schools, and responsible officials have remained silent, stating: 'According to the law, the government is obliged to protect the health of the community and to act to reduce harm to the people in any situation.' This newspaper reported, citing Mehdi Eisa Zadeh, a member of the ninth parliament's social commission, criticizing the performance of the Environmental Organization, stating: 'We, as representatives of the parliament, are dissatisfied with this situation, as the weak performance of this organization has contributed to the worsening air pollution,' and 'the issue of gasoline imports, which was pursued by the Environmental Organization, seems to have many hidden layers, as importing gasoline into the country has enriched some individuals.' The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz identified the government as the main culprit for Tehran's air pollution, stating: 'According to many experts, the continuation of these conditions and the lack of a proper and principled strategy to combat this situation puts the capital in a critical condition regarding air pollution.' However, the newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on the 'hidden roots of Tehran's pollution,' stating: 'The Environmental Committee of the Tehran City Council, coinciding with the resurgence of air pollution, has conducted research on the hidden roots of this dangerous urban phenomenon, which shows that 'aside from the role of fixed and mobile pollutants, factories, and vehicles, which have always been the focus of experts, the source of air pollution in the capital is a neglected factor,' which is 'the trend of destruction and conversion of gardens into buildings.' According to this newspaper, research by the Environmental Committee of the Tehran City Council indicates that 'the trend of destruction and conversion of gardens into buildings' over at least the past decade has deprived the city of the ability to purify and filter the air, turning Tehran into 'a city with an unbearable ecological capacity.'