Continued Protests Against Dog Killing in Various Cities

The newspaper Etemad reported on "the revelations of Moayed Hosseini Sadr, a representative from Khoy, regarding dirty money." This member of parliament emphasized that he is "ready to explain to representatives about dirty money and its connection to the 10th parliamentary elections instead of the Minister of Interior," referring to multiple cases of financial corruption and dirty money that, in addition to connections with some representatives, are currently supporting potential candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Moayed Hosseini Sadr stated: "The brother of the person who had given money to Mr. Rahimi and is now in prison has established an election headquarters," and in another example, "a person involved in smuggling has now formed a branch of charitable organizations and is conducting extensive electoral work under its guise." The newspaper Qanoon dedicated its front page to Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the presidents of Iran and Afghanistan, respectively, and in a report titled "Solidarity with a Neighboring Language," wrote: "Ashraf Ghani's visit to Iran indicates the importance of relations between Kabul and Tehran. These two neighbors were once part of a single country and cannot succeed in current regional issues without cooperation. Iran and Afghanistan have many common issues and can significantly assist each other regarding Afghan migrants, drug trafficking, and environmental matters." The newspaper Iran also assessed Ashraf Ghani's visit to Tehran as "the foundation of new relations between Tehran and Kabul." The newspaper Shahre Vandan reported on the perilous journeys of foreign nationals on Iranian roads, stating: "In three days, 61 illegal immigrants died in traffic accidents, and 62 others were injured." The newspaper Jahan San'at reported on "the continuation of protests against dog killing in various cities." According to this newspaper, on Sunday, "nearly 300 animal rights supporters protested against dog killing in Shiraz," holding placards in support of animals in front of the Environmental Protection Organization building. The newspaper Shargh reported that from now on, "water-saving devices are awaiting high-consumption subscribers." This newspaper noted the addition of "a new clause to the water bills of household consumers," stating that Alireza Nozari Pour, the deputy of Tehran's Water and Wastewater Company, announced the "installation of water-saving devices for high-consumption subscribers and the collection of costs in installments through bills." Economist Bahman Arman, however, told Shargh that "pressure on household consumers is not a solution to water scarcity," as "92% of Iran's water is consumed in agriculture, 6% in industry, and only 2% is used for household purposes." The newspaper Javan reacted to the nationwide gathering of teachers on Friday, reporting under the headline "Reformists Surfing on Teachers' Professional Demands," stating that reformists "are trying to weight and give proximity to their light vote basket by surfing on the protests of teachers." The newspaper Kayhan reported on its front page that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated during a meeting with a group of commanders, staff, and families of army martyrs: "The nation's response to America's military bluff is a strong punch." Simultaneously, the newspaper Iran also reported on its front page, quoting the leader of the Islamic Republic in a meeting with the president of Afghanistan, stating: "Iran has never been a threat to its neighbors." The newspaper Shargh also reported on its front page that Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated in a television program: "Hot lead; is the response to visits to military centers." According to this newspaper, Hossein Salami stated: "Not only will we not allow foreigners to visit Iran's military centers, but we will not even allow the thought of this issue; even in their dreams, they will not have permission to visit our most ordinary military locations." The revelations of a parliament member regarding dirty money were reported by the newspaper Etemad. Moayed Hosseini Sadr, a representative from Khoy in the 9th parliament, emphasized that he is "ready to explain to representatives about dirty money and its connection to the 10th parliamentary elections instead of the Minister of Interior," in an interview with journalist Ehsan Badaghi from Etemad, speaking about "the formation of election headquarters by certain individuals" whose wealth sources include cases such as drug import rent or receiving special permits for currency sales in the previous government. This parliament member pointed out that "in every city and region, various versions of Babak Zanjani can be seen. One day it is the phenomenon of Shandiz, another day it is Babak Zanjani, one day it is the issue of oil swaps, and another day it is about a certain minister," stating: "This issue has nothing to do with the government wanting these people to be active. In fact, I believe the 11th government has a good commitment to combating corruption. If it didn't, the issue of dirty money would not have been raised, but unfortunately, the extent of illicit relationships that were previously established has also extended to the present time." Moayed Hosseini Sadr pointed out that "some manifestations of acquiring these illicit and windfall fortunes are obvious, such as oil swaps, currency exchanges, monopolies on importing animal feed and poultry, monopolies on importing sugar and paper, and especially importing cars," stating that some other manifestations of acquiring these illicit and windfall fortunes "are not very visible, such as some collusions in insurance. Someone who colludes and obtains exclusive insurance quickly and briefly reaches tens of billions of tomans in windfall profit" and "some other places involve land grabbing. Individuals come and take land under the pretext of establishing hotels or cultivating medicinal plants or factories and change its usage. Or the issue of document forgery for abandoned lands, where all these documents are fake. However, there are some examples that are still not very obvious, such as smuggling. Fuel, drugs, and goods smuggling are also significant issues in this regard." The newspaper Etemad also quoted this parliament member saying: "I know a person who is powerful and has become a multi-billionaire from buying and selling medicine. This person was once a simple government employee, and the only rent he received led to this income." According to Moayed Hosseini Sadr, financial corruption and rent-seeking "cause injustice and lack of motivation," but "worse than that is that individuals come and want to direct their illicit wealth towards political influence in society and have planned long-term." This parliament member emphasized that the danger of the influence of dirty money on elections is "definitely serious," telling Etemad: for example, "the brother of the person who had given money to Mr. Rahimi and is now in prison has established an election headquarters. Or another example is a person involved in smuggling who has now formed a branch of charitable organizations and is conducting extensive electoral work under its guise. They falsely claim they are doing charitable and humanitarian work. I know someone who was previously responsible and has now amassed a vast fortune and formed an extensive electoral network" and in another case, a person "obtained a currency exchange permit in half a day in the previous government and made a profit of 300 to 400 billion tomans within about four or five months during that period of currency fluctuations." Moayed Hosseini Sadr raised the question: "When someone comes and pays for a month-long trip for a certain official to a foreign country or provides the best offices for another official, what is that for?" He stated: "In one of the provinces, these groups are actively operating, and their wealth comes from oil smuggling, drug trade, and currency exchange, among others." The newspaper Etemad quoted this parliament member stating that in one of the provinces, those who made 300 billion tomans in four months in a currency exchange "are now bringing someone for elections who is working in a religious and sacred place, and their tactic is to seek outwardly righteous individuals" and in addition, "I know dozens of cases where large projects have reached companies without going through legal processes, and now they have quickly become powerful and want to determine the fate of the country." The serial death of Afghan migrants in smugglers' vehicles; 61 killed and 62 injured in three days. The newspaper Shahre Vandan reported on perilous journeys of foreign nationals on Iranian roads, stating: "In three days, 61 illegal immigrants died in traffic accidents, and 62 others were injured." According to this newspaper, in the past week, deadly accidents involving human traffickers' vehicles in various roads of Iran have repeated, and only "in three consecutive days and in 8 separate accidents involving traffickers' vehicles, 61 foreign nationals have died, and 62 others have been injured," while "for years, many officials have shown attention to the movement of traffickers' vehicles carrying foreign nationals at alarming speeds that cause deadly accidents," but now "the shocking statistics of human traffickers' vehicle accidents in the first month of 94 have sounded the alarm on Iran's roads." Mostafa Mortezavi, the spokesperson for the Red Crescent's Rescue and Relief Organization, regarding the deadly accidents from the beginning of the week until early Sunday, told the Shahre Vandan newspaper: "The first accident occurred on the Saravan-Kohak road in Sistan and Baluchestan province at 9 PM on Saturday, where a Peugeot 405 and a Toyota pickup, both carrying illegal Afghan nationals, were reported to the Red Crescent road bases, resulting in 12 foreign nationals dying and 17 others injured." According to Mostafa Mortezavi, only 45 minutes after the first accident was reported, "another deadly incident was reported on the Darab-Bandar Abbas road in Fars province, where in this accident, a Peugeot 405 carrying illegal Afghan nationals collided with a truck, resulting in one death and 12 injuries." After that, "at 11:15 PM and in the last moments of Saturday night, another accident completed the series of road incidents involving traffickers' vehicles, and this time the overturning of a 405 carrying illegal Afghan nationals on the Lar-Jahrom road in Fars province resulted in 8 injuries," and after that, "at 3:45 AM on Sunday, another deadly accident occurred on the Minab-Bandar Abbas road in Hormozgan province," where "a Peugeot 405, all of whom were foreign nationals, collided violently with a truck, and in this incident, 11 foreign nationals were killed, and 5 other passengers were injured." Meanwhile, according to the spokesperson for the Red Crescent's Rescue and Relief Organization, "on the morning of Friday, April 28, a horrific accident occurred on the 100 km mark of the Khash-Saravan road, where a pickup truck carrying illegal foreign nationals collided with a Peugeot 405, resulting in 15 deaths and 15 injuries," and "at 10:30 PM on Friday, another similar incident occurred where a smuggler's pickup truck collided with a Peugeot carrying illegal foreign nationals, resulting in 7 deaths from these two vehicles," and in another incident "on the same road [Khash to Saravan] at 4:30 AM on Friday, a fuel smuggler's vehicle collided with a Peugeot carrying illegal foreign nationals, resulting in 6 deaths," and also in "an incident that occurred on the morning of Saturday, April 29, in Kerman province on the Rostamabad-Bam road, a Peugeot 405 carrying Afghan traffickers collided with the back of a truck and caught fire, killing 9 illegal Afghan nationals along with the driver and injuring 5 other passengers." The newspaper Shahre Vandan noted that "colorful images of the dream life in foreign lands are not exclusive to Iranians, and many residents of surrounding countries also consider Iran their dream destination with the hope of living abroad in a safe country in need of human resources." It stated: "The phenomenon of excessive migration of foreign nationals, especially from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq to Iran, is now intertwined with human trafficking. Foreign nationals are forced to embark on a perilous journey to enter Iranian territory along with traffickers. The specifications of the drivers of some of these vehicles seem secretive; in a vehicle designed for 5 people, sometimes up to 17 people are crammed in, and to arrive at their destination faster, they travel at alarming speeds; this is the most unsafe form of human trafficking in the illegal migration of foreign nationals." According to this newspaper, "some unofficial statistics indicate that a large number of deadly accidents on the country's roads are attributed to traffickers' vehicles, which mostly occur in Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman, and Isfahan provinces, while the large number of passengers in these vehicles also increases the mortality rate in accidents." Nisar Ahmad, a 23-year-old Afghan worker living illegally in Iran, told the Shahre Vandan newspaper: "Since two years ago, I have traveled back and forth to Afghanistan and Iran four times with human traffickers' vehicles, and for each trip, I paid between one to two million tomans." According to Nisar Ahmad, vehicles carrying illegal nationals travel at night, and the speed of these "vehicles is very high; the drivers want to evade police checkpoints and therefore speed onto the roads." The Shahre Vandan newspaper quoted this Afghan worker saying that on the first trip, "14 of us were crammed into the vehicle, and I, along with 5 young and skinny boys, lay down in the trunk. When the vehicle started moving, every twist and turn of the road made it hard for us to breathe, and the pressure in that dark compartment seemed to bring us a step closer to death."