Criticism from Principlist Newspapers on Rouhani's Presence at Labor Day Ceremony

Several newspapers close to the Principlists have used Hassan Rouhani's presence at the Labor Day ceremony and the remarks made by the Islamic Republic's President during the event as a basis for a new wave of attacks on the eleventh government. The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Steadfast Front, published a photo on its front page showing Hassan Rouhani in a car passing by workers of Mapna, stating: 'While visits by senior officials of the regime to factories and well-known economic groups have always included tours of the complex or factory, this time, in Rouhani's government's program for Labor Day, such a program was not included, and Rouhani left this large complex while workers of the Mapna group were observing him from his car.' This newspaper also referred to 'criticism of Rouhani's action on social media' and simultaneously compared it to the Supreme Leader's visit to Mapna in 2012. Vatan-e-Emruz also noted the 'broadcast of a controversial clip in support of the JCPOA' during Rouhani's presence, stating: 'The content of the clip began with the front pages of newspapers with the headline “Almost Nothing,” passing one by one, and then showed workers at work asking: Why nothing?' Part of the clip also showed 'the welcoming ceremony for Rouhani during his various meetings with people in some parts of the country, showing workers collectively saying: We have placed our hope in the government's management; we are with you to build Iran from nothing.' The newspaper emphasized that the Labor Day government ceremony 'turned into a political meeting instead of focusing more on workers' demands and the government's plans to improve workers' living conditions.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, also criticized Rouhani's 'attack on critics of America's violations' in its Monday issue, stating: 'While many of the President's associates and colleagues also criticize America's violations in the JCPOA, he again labeled critics as suspicious and pessimistic yesterday.' Ali Yunusi, the President's special assistant for ethnic and religious minorities, warned in an interview with the newspaper Aftab Yazd about the consequences of Principlist attacks on Hassan Rouhani and also the proposal for his 'withdrawal' from candidacy in the 2017 presidential election, stating: 'Some believe that Dr. Rouhani should not run for four more years,' but 'the claim of Rouhani's withdrawal is clumsy and dangerous.' The newspaper Aftab Yazd also quoted Ali Yunusi, referring to the new activities of the former president, stating: 'They want to bring Ahmadinejad back to scare Rouhani.' In evaluating the results of the Assembly of Experts and the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections, he told this newspaper: 'The first place of Hashemi means that his opponents are just making noise,' and 'Gholamali Haddad Adel should congratulate instead of attacking reformists.' The newspaper Qanoon described part of Hassan Rouhani's remarks as 'the President's repeated defense of the people's vote' and support for the elected representative of Isfahan, Minou Khalighi, quoting the Islamic Republic's President as saying: 'We are happy that 18 female representatives have entered the parliament.' The newspaper Kayhan, in its Sunday issue, called for the 'seizure of American commercial ships in the Persian Gulf' as a 'response' to the two billion dollar compensation determined by the US Supreme Court to be paid to the families of 241 US servicemen killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing, and in the headline of its Monday issue reported the possibility of 'new sanctions against Iran under the pretext of military presence in the Persian Gulf.' The newspaper Khorasan, in the headline of its May 3 issue titled 'Aref or Larijani?', wrote: 'Comments about the presidency of Larijani or Aref, which began immediately after the election results became clear, intensified on Sunday. The noteworthy point about these positions is that very few independent figures have commented on this, making it difficult to predict the Speaker of the tenth parliament.' This newspaper also quoted Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a member of the Combatant Clergy Association, stating that the presidency of Mohammad Reza Aref, backed by a vote of 1.6 million against Ali Larijani's 160,000, 'is the best respect for the people,' while 'Larijani no longer has the power to correct the national-level communications of reformists with the centers of power, and Aref is still more trusted by the centers of power.' The newspaper Khorasan also quoted Kazem Jalali, the current head of the Fraternity of Guardians faction close to Ali Larijani in Tehran, who was elected to parliament with the Hope list in the February 26 elections, stating: 'The elected representatives of Tehran have not signed a covenant in support of Aref's presidency,' but 'the presidency of the parliament is determined by all representatives, yet a rational process that does not create a gap must be reached.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, noted that 'in recent days, especially after the second round of parliamentary elections, new efforts by reformists to replace Aref with Larijani have taken place,' accusing reformists of 'extorting from Ali Larijani' and writing: 'It seems that the publication of such news is done with a goal. Larijani must give more concessions to receive the votes of reformists.' Mehdi Poursafa, a reporter for the newspaper Javan, wrote: 'Ali Larijani is someone who can solve some of their [reformists'] problems with the establishment, and this is something that Mohammad Reza Aref cannot.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan also published a report titled 'Who Will Become the Speaker of the Parliament?' stating: 'This is the most important political question these days' as 'both Ali Larijani and Mohammad Reza Aref are candidates for the presidency of the Iranian parliament, but perhaps for the first time, the two main candidates are not so competitive with each other for the presidency seat.' Mahtab Esfandiari, in a report for Farhikhtegan, noted that the coalition of reformists and supporters of the government forms the largest tendency in parliament, emphasizing that to maintain this coalition, the only way may be to determine the presidency of the parliament in a 'non-competitive' manner. The newspaper Etemad reacted to media speculations close to the Principlists about the appointment of the tenth parliament's speaker, describing it as a 'trap of division' and reporting on the 'tactics of the media-political stream' to create discord among Mohammad Reza Aref. According to Mojtaba Hosseini, a reporter for Etemad, with the completion of the tenth parliament's composition, 'the strategic-political coalition of rationalists with three sides of reformists, supporters of the government, and moderate Principlists has reached beyond its goal, which is to reduce the influence and power of hardliners in politics and to synergize intellectual-operational capabilities to assist the government.' The newspaper Etemad referred to the plans of the hardline stream's managers, stating that they 'have issued a new organizational directive for their cavalry and infantry by monitoring the current situation in the reformist and moderate camps,' and their goal is 'a focal point that constructed the coalition and unity among reformists and moderates.' According to this newspaper, the 'political-psychological operations' of hardliners against the coalition of reformists and moderates 'have two main political and media headquarters in tactical and operational specifications,' and their program is based on 'pressure from the outside - discord from within and leading the conflict between Haidari and Naemati in the matter of the parliament's presidency and creating a duel between Mohammad Reza Aref and Ali Larijani.' Jalal Barzegar, a journalist, in the editorial of the newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh titled 'The Political-Economic Message of Ms. Park's Visit' about Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea, to Iran wrote: 'Iran, just as it has never followed North Korea's path in nuclear technology, also evaluates South Korea's economic model as more applicable than that of North Korea. This is why today, instead of the young leader of North Korea, who openly threatens Seoul and other cities of the world with nuclear weapons, Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea, is a guest in Iran.' The newspaper Shargh dedicated its front page to the South Korean President and her visit along with a political-economic delegation to Iran, describing it as a '20 billion dollar trip,' stating: 'No president from Korea has ever visited Iran before, and the Koreans assess this trip as historic and important, as her meeting on Monday with Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, is indeed the most significant meeting in the official relations between the two countries since 1962.' This newspaper noted that Park Geun-hye, the President of South Korea, arrived in Tehran on Sunday evening to meet and discuss with senior Iranian officials during a three-day visit, stating: 'She is not alone on this trip and has brought a delegation of 236 officials and heads of the largest companies and industrialists of her country.' Sadegh Ziba Kalam, in the editorial of the newspaper Shargh titled 'The Living Children of Reform,' referred to his travels during the first and second rounds of parliamentary elections to various cities and provinces, stating: 'What I can say from this overview of these one or two dozen electoral trips is that, as the old Tehranis say, reform has given birth.' The editorial writer of Shargh wrote: 'If there were still doubts from some hardliners and their newspapers regarding the victory of reformists in the fourth council elections and the eleventh presidential election, the results of the votes on February 26, 2016, and May 10, 2016, showed that this political current has also been reproducing and is systematically increasing in population.' The newspaper Qanoon, while publishing a report on 'the causes of increased domestic violence,' referred to 'incomplete laws, cultural poverty, and the silence of women' as reasons for the spread of domestic violence. Hassan Fadaei, a lawyer and legal expert, told this newspaper: 'According to statistics, 66% of women have experienced violence at least once; while we see that an individual does not refer to judicial authorities after a single assault.' This legal expert stated that 'we are dealing with multiple types of violence such as verbal, sexual, domestic, legal violence, and obstruction of social growth,' referring to some existing laws and saying: 'Ignorance and lack of awareness of these rights and ignorance and lack of awareness of women regarding the instances of violence, which some women consider as their husband's right and a natural act, exist, and this cultural poverty must be eliminated by raising women's awareness of the instances of violence. In some cases, we even see that in many instances, for the sake of preserving honor and so on, violence is covered up.