Continued Protests by Victims of Financial Institutions Caspian, Arman, and Padideh

The newspaper Hamdeli has highlighted the ongoing protests of depositors from the financial institutions "Caspian, Arman, Alborz Fareshtegan, Saman, Padideh," stating: "After 26 days of continuous sit-ins by the victims of the Caspian institution, yesterday, depositors from the Arman and Padideh institutions joined the Caspian depositors to voice their protests to the officials." According to this newspaper, "Negotiations between the Parliament, government, and judiciary to resolve the issues surrounding the people's deposits in the Caspian, Saman, Arman, and other credit institutions have intensified in recent days, but shareholders of Padideh Shandiz remain in uncertainty and are demanding the release of their funds." Hamdeli recalls that "for about two months, three large cooperatives left behind in the unorganized monetary market have been transferred to authorized financial institutions to manage their assets, liabilities, and total commitments to depositors. According to the Central Bank's decision, the Afzal Toos cooperative was transferred to Bank Ayandeh, Arman (Unity) to the Mellat Institute, and finally Alborz Iranians to Bank Tejarat," and based on this, "in a legal process and with the opinion of relevant authorities, including the judiciary and the Central Bank, the stages of evaluating and transferring the assets and accounts of these cooperatives have been put on the agenda, and Bank Ayandeh has started addressing the depositors of Afzal Toos up to three million tomans, as well as the Mellat Institute addressing the status of depositors up to the same amount in the Arman cooperative in recent weeks," but "there is currently no news about the resolution of the depositors of the Alborz Iranians cooperative at Bank Tejarat." The newspaper states that "it is estimated that 15 to 20 percent of Iran's liquidity is held by financial and credit institutions," and writes that "the Central Bank of Iran has announced that due to the lack of monetary, banking, and credit expertise in these institutions, providing services outside of their statutes, entering various unrelated markets such as housing, gold, and currency using people's deposits, these financial and credit institutions have been unable to repay the deposits." Some protesting depositors, however, told Hamdeli that "why, at a time when accurate information should have been provided to the public and branches, as stated by the Central Bank, of unauthorized financial institutions were to be identified and sealed, no action was taken, and why did the Central Bank not inform the public through state media and other outlets?" The newspaper Shargh, in a report titled "Revealing the U.S. Roadmap on the JCPOA," wrote: "Gradually, the United States' plan regarding the JCPOA is becoming clearer. This can be understood from the statements of responsible officials in this country. Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, has said that we want to preserve the JCPOA through a secondary agreement." According to this newspaper, the U.S. Secretary of State, in his first media interview after Donald Trump's speech, stated: "What the President wants is a comprehensive response to all of Iran's threats; however, the previous administration focused only on the nuclear issue in this agreement. The nuclear agreement has many flaws and weaknesses. Now we want to address these flaws and also have a broader strategy to deal with Iran's threats against the region. The people should know that the President wants to work with our allies to address these weaknesses, which may be included in a secondary agreement, and additionally, to deal with a wide range of Iran's threats, including ballistic missiles, support for terrorism and groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and support for insurgents in Yemen and Syria." Shargh emphasized that "such a statement is made while Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized that they will not negotiate again over the nuclear program and that revising or renegotiating the JCPOA is not feasible," and also that "Zarif and Mogherini have repeatedly emphasized that this agreement is between several countries, and UN resolutions have also been issued regarding it, and one country cannot change its course." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in a headline titled "The Howl of Negotiation After the Clawing of the JCPOA," wrote: "Shortly after the sharp speech of the U.S. President, which Hassan Rouhani, the President, described as 'a bunch of baseless accusations' against Iran, Rex Tillerson speaks of the necessity of renegotiating with Iran; a negotiation that, according to him, is necessary not to change the text of the JCPOA but to create a 'complementary agreement' with Iran." This newspaper also assessed the new U.S. strategy regarding Iran and the speech of the President of this country as "psychological, political, and economic operations" aimed at "creating confrontation and dichotomy within and putting the people face to face with the Guards" and wrote that Donald Trump's speech "created a national consensus in facing the excesses of the hegemonic system, national cohesion in support of the Guards and other revolutionary forces, and in this context, the words of Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and other government officials practically neutralize the scenario designed by the enemies." The newspaper close to the Revolutionary Guards emphasized that "maintaining national unity and cohesion and avoiding confrontation and conflict among internal forces is the most important principle in facing these conditions," writing that "the enemy's focal point and concentration on intensifying sanctions is based on their belief that by intensifying sanctions, they can create social dissatisfaction and bring the people to confront the regime." Simultaneously, Kayhan, in its editorial titled "The Line of Influence and the Danger of Freezing the JCPOA," wrote: "Unity, which is very necessary, has its requirements and necessities. It must be accompanied by learning from mistakes and practical compensation; otherwise, inviting unity and continuing the previous wrong path of trusting the words of U.S. or European officials will be interpreted as duality and insincerity. After the betrayals and malice of the U.S., has there really been a realization and regardless of expressing or not expressing regret over one-sided trust, is there a real intention to compensate?" This newspaper implicitly accused Hassan Rouhani of sending signals abroad to pressure the Revolutionary Guards and wrote: "Why do the positions of some government officials seem contradictory, invalid, and like a worthless check? Why should a senior government official a few months ago make unfounded accusations against the Guards and the U.S., which has been slapped by the power of the Revolutionary Guards, should make a mockery of the Guards? Will subsequent statements in support and praise of the Guards compensate for sending that dangerous signal to the enemy?" Now, "the credibility of recent good statements is that in the face of sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and any other entity cooperating with the Guards, the government should not be satisfied with condemnation and should suspend some commitments in support of this frontline of national security and power." Kayhan also wrote: "Some of our government officials and diplomats have, over the past few years, allied and sympathized with foreigners - even out of negligence - but in relation to the internal and the concerned public opinion, while they were keen on keeping matters confidential, as a dominant approach, they guided in one direction and turned towards the opposite. They spoke against the U.S. in words, but in practice, they trusted their promises and words, and even despite observing the malice of the Obama and Trump administrations, until very recently, they spoke of new JCPOAs. And this has emboldened the enemy to breach its commitments and impose new sanctions." This newspaper wrote, "I wish Mr. Rouhani and his advisors would think of achieving something other than the JCPOA in these four years of great opportunity they have, in which case they would either stand up against the trampling of the JCPOA with greater freedom and autonomy or would not have to continue the failed approach of 'at any cost.'" And of course, it emphasized that in Iran's economy, "until the addiction to the JCPOA is broken and we do not restore our autonomy and will, there will be no prosperity or relief in work." The newspaper Etemad published photos of the attack by Hajar Chenarani, the representative of Nishabour, on the political-security deputy of the Razavi Khorasan governorate on its front page, with the headline "An Odd Action by a Representative," stating: "She attacks the political deputy of the Razavi Khorasan governorate with a microphone stand and shouts at him to leave the meeting. This is a scene from the video of Hajar Chenarani's confrontation with Javad Hosseini, the political and security deputy of the Razavi Khorasan governorate at the closing ceremony of the National Conference on Women, Family, and Health in Nishabour, which is being circulated on social media." This newspaper noted that "Hajar Chenarani's behavior at this conference does not end with this scene," writing: "Two videos showing a total of 5 minutes of Chenarani's confrontations and remarks towards the political deputy of the Razavi Khorasan governorate largely reveal the subject of this protest and confrontation to the viewer," and the issue goes back to "Hosseini's inadvertent comment and use of the term 'Western Khorasan' which sparked regional sentiments between Nishabour and Sabzevar." According to Etemad, the story "relates to a not-so-old dispute between Sabzevar and Nishabour" because "the formation of Western Khorasan is a project that the Sabzevari people are pursuing, and the Nishabouri people oppose it," and while "Javad Hosseini, the deputy governor of Khorasan, is originally from Sabzevar, two months ago, he inadvertently used the term Western Khorasan during a speech," which has also been published on social media, and in that video, one of the attendees addresses the deputy governor of Razavi Khorasan, saying: 'Mr. Hosseini, this meeting became a bit bitter for us Nishabouri people. You mentioned Western Khorasan. Is this Western Khorasan a new place in the administrative divisions?' to which Hosseini responds: 'If I said Western Khorasan, I misspoke. I meant the west of Khorasan province. If I said Western Khorasan, I misspoke.' Jahangir Khanjani, the former spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, described the confrontation of the Nishabour representative with the political-security deputy of the Razavi Khorasan governorate as "a precedent in the relationship between the branches" and wrote: "Some members of Parliament are not satisfied with their legal limits and want to play a role beyond their limits," but "it should not be allowed for representatives to command and dictate to the executive bodies of the province instead of using their legal tools 'questions, warnings, and impeachment.'" Morteza Moballegh, the former political deputy of the Ministry of Interior, also told Etemad: "It would be good to send this confrontation video to the members of the Guardian Council so they can see it. It is clear that when experienced, thoughtful, and efficient individuals are disqualified in the Guardian Council process, some may enter Parliament who lack minimum social behavior." This figure close to the reformists emphasized that "supervisory oversight is not the only problem, but it is the main problem," stating that "in the same elections for the tenth Parliament, which the recent confrontation relates to one of its representatives, we witnessed widespread disqualifications," and "as a result, those who lacked the necessary experience and had not received the necessary training entered Parliament and behave like this, while if the situation were different, it would certainly not have happened." The newspaper Qanoon criticized the authorities for their "inability to protect the rights of the disabled" and wrote: "Disabled individuals should not withdraw from society due to their physical problems and be deprived of participating in society," but despite the fact that "the Comprehensive Law for the Support of the Disabled was passed by Parliament in 2004, the necessary implementation frameworks for this law have not yet been established, so this segment of society faces numerous problems. According to Article 1 of this law, the government is obliged to provide the necessary conditions to ensure the rights of the disabled and to provide them with the necessary support." This newspaper noted that "the problems of the disabled are not just one or two; the suffering of illness and the limitations it creates on one hand and the lack of understanding of their situation by society and the lack of necessary urban facilities for their movement on the other hand have created many problems for the disabled. The lack of special transportation means or the establishment of places in urban transportation such as buses and subways and buildings that do not have ramps for wheelchair movement are among the problems that this segment of society faces every day. Although, yesterday, Mohammad Ali Najafi, the new mayor of Tehran, announced the appointment of an advisor on citizen affairs on the occasion of White Cane Day, it seems that there is still a long way to go before the full realization of the rights of the blind and disabled." Ali Hemat Mahmoudnejad, the head of the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Disabled in Iran, has said: "In some parts of the country, a disabled person must travel more than 40 to 50 kilometers to reach school, and we still face problems regarding the school transportation service for disabled students." According to Qanoon, while "society has a duty to assist and provide welfare services for them to foster their self-confidence so they can study, work, and strive like others and climb the ladder of progress," in recent years, "the necessary conditions for the presence of the disabled in society have not been provided, and this segment of society struggles with numerous problems to enter society, a clear example of which is the dropout of disabled students due to the lack of transportation services."