Criticism of the Total Contract and Condemnation of Criticism

Iran newspaper, close to the government, on its front page on Saturday published the ruling of the Court of Audit regarding Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam, the former commander of the police force, with the headline "Dismissal from service for a senior commander of the police force." The newspaper wrote: "The oil-related controversies that the 'Cooperative Foundation,' a subsidiary of the police force, received from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in 2012 for sale are just heating up. Mohammad Hosseini, a member of the Budget and Planning Commission of the Parliament, told the ISNA news agency that a dismissal ruling has been issued for one of the former commanders of the police force regarding this case." Although Mohammad Hosseini did not explicitly name Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghadam, he stated that "the issued ruling and the indictment relate to the 'senior official of this force at the time.'" However, Iran newspaper noted: "The financial misconduct of the police force in selling oil during Ahmadinejad's term is confirmed, while previously, between 2013 and 2015, General Ahmadi Moghadam, the 'senior official of the police force at the time,' repeatedly denied the accusations in this regard and even claimed that 90% of the revenue from oil sales by the police force was deposited into the treasury." The newspaper emphasized that "Es'haq Jahangiri stated last year that neither the police force nor any of the other institutions that sold oil during the previous government returned even a dollar of that money" and "now, after five years, the government and parliament are seeking to settle those debts, while on the other hand, attention is focused on clarifying the dimensions of this misconduct and the officials involved in it." The newspaper pointed out that "the oil shipments in question were provided to this entity in 2012 due to an 11% budget deficit of the police force. The police force subsequently succeeded in selling this shipment, but what ultimately happens is that, firstly, the police force does not deposit the proceeds from the sale of this oil into the country's treasury, and secondly, the revenue from this action exceeds their 11% budget deficit." It recalled that "the budget audit report for 2012, published a year later, stated: 'The National Iranian Oil Company delivered 1,639,342 barrels of crude oil worth $185,240,042 with the guarantee of the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran's police force to one of the companies affiliated with the police force on November 4, 2012. Despite selling crude oil and receiving payment for it, the company has refrained from paying its debt to the National Iranian Oil Company.'" The criticism from the Economic Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps regarding Iran's contract with the Total oil company is among the main headlines of Saturday's newspapers. Shargh newspaper, with the headline "Reaction of the Khatam Headquarters to the Total Contract," reported on the grievances of Abadollah Abdollahi, the commander of the economic branch of the IRGC, against Hassan Rouhani's government, even on "live television." The newspaper wrote: "Only three days after the signing of Iran's first new oil contract for the development of phase 11 of South Pars between the National Iranian Oil Company and a consortium consisting of Total, the China National Petroleum Corporation, and Petropars, led by Total, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters complained about the government and Rouhani, stating that ignoring domestic capabilities in this contract is truly unfair." According to Shargh, the criticism from the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters comes at a time when "in this contract, only Total is present as the leader of the consortium and is obliged to utilize Iranian oil industry professionals, and it is in this regard that Petropars has entered the matter," but the commander insists that "we should never question our dignity and, while we have the capability, become a second-rate contractor." The commander of the economic branch of the IRGC is "complaining that the Ministry of Oil has said all contracts must go through a bidding process" and stated: "The assignment of phase 11 of South Pars to Total was without bidding procedures, and I had no information about the process." Shargh also referenced the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters's criticism of Hassan Rouhani's remarks that the IRGC is a "government with guns," writing: "Abadollah Abdollahi, who appeared on a special news program on Channel Two, stated: 'I am the only one who has had the most interaction with governments regarding the Khatam Construction Headquarters. When we had the highest work record for the government in 2016, is it appropriate for the government with guns and without guns to be mentioned?'" The Javan newspaper, close to the IRGC, also published the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters's criticism of the government with the headline "For Job Creation, We Expected Encouragement, Not Sarcasm" and wrote: "Officials say foreigners must come and invest, while the IRGC has repeatedly announced its readiness to provide financial support as well" and "there is currently 1.3 trillion tomans in the hands of the people, and if we create the right conditions to attract it, we can direct this capital to the necessary sectors." This newspaper quoted Abdollah Abdollahi as saying: "Those who say the IRGC is competing with the private sector are either ignorant or malicious" and "the Khatam Headquarters has no insistence on entering projects and is present in projects at the request and need of governments. The IRGC wants projects not to stall and not to add to the unemployed in the country." The Ebtikar newspaper, on its front page, criticized the "oil concerns" and wrote: "Iran's large oil contract with Total, signed last week, faced numerous baseless attacks, just like other investments made during the eleventh government," while "to date, there has either been no domestic investor for a contract as large as $8.4 billion, or if such investors existed in previous governments, why did they not take action to serve the people and only resort to attacking the government of prudence and hope without basis?" Mehdi Motaharnia, an international affairs expert, told Ebtikar: "If we want to examine the contract with Total from a legal perspective, we will realize that the attacks from the opponents of this contract are entirely mistaken; because the amount of this contract is estimated at $8.4 billion, and if domestic investors had existed who had the capability for such investment, then where were they, and why could they not share the profits with the people? If such investors do not exist in the country, then making such statements, if not an attack on the government, what is it?" Ebtikar also quoted Mehdi Motaharnia as evaluating this contract as a result of "forward diplomacy" in Rouhani's government and wrote: "Iran's contract with Total created a significant crack in the international sanctions against Iran. This contract is similar to the Geneva nuclear agreement between Iran and the 5+1, which led to the creation of a meaningful atmosphere towards a fracture in the international consensus that is ready to become a major crack." Abdullah Ganji, in the editorial of Javan newspaper titled "Social Capacities of the Judiciary," wrote: "The most important decision that can strengthen the actions of the judiciary is social actions for prevention. Publicly broadcasting the trials of major financial corruption is more deterrent than executing the ruling of that court, and this is akin to a neglected and effective social act." This newspaper, without naming specific examples, wrote: "Publicly broadcasting the trial of a corrupt judge and publicly encouraging a firm and righteous judge is a social act that is currently missing." The editorial writer of Javan newspaper emphasized the need to create a "judicial emergency" and wrote: "Grievance seeking must be online and quick, and the bureaucracy of police stations and the complexities of judicial-police interactions are among the main reasons for dissatisfaction and reluctance to refer. If the investigation of opinions is prohibited, if the choice of profession and place of residence is free, if presence in a park requires a sense of security, the judiciary must be the standard-bearer of that, not just monitor from behind." Javan newspaper emphasized that "the current image of the judiciary is a purely 'coercive' image, while according to Chapter Three of the Constitution and Article 156, the judiciary is a 'coercive-social' power," implicitly describing the judiciary as a "capital-consuming" entity and wrote: "Facilitating the element of time for access and conclusion is the most important social need today for the judiciary that is not accessible. It is hoped that the constraints of coercive rights will become more tangible with social rights, and the judiciary will not only not become a capital-consuming entity but will also produce capital." Increased social pressures on citizens is also among the topics that Saturday's newspapers have focused on. Hamdeli newspaper reported that Youssef Tabatabai Nejad, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Isfahan, during his remarks at Friday prayers in Isfahan, said: "75% of the people of Isfahan do not need concerts, and we should not sacrifice everyone for the few remaining percent." According to this newspaper, the Imam of Isfahan also stated: "The people who participate in our celebrations are not religious people, and regarding concerts, I told the Minister of Culture to provide one reason that this should be and is beneficial. Amir al-Mu'minin told Malik not to sacrifice the request of one person for a group." Etemad newspaper also reported on the "reaffirmation of the police and judiciary officials regarding the non-privacy of vehicles" and wrote that Hadi Sadeghi, the cultural deputy of the judiciary, referring to recent remarks by some officials and managers about defining privacy and the positions regarding the activities of the agents of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, stated that the "privacy of vehicles" is considered a "public privacy" and said: "Only the trunk and dashboard are private." Etemad named Hadi Sadeghi as one of the supporters of the police spokesperson's opinion and wrote that Hadi Sadeghi said: "As I previously stated regarding vehicles and the preservation of privacy in vehicles, the space of the vehicle is divided into two visible and hidden parts, where the hidden part, which is normally invisible, such as the trunk, is considered private, and this concept does not include the visible part of the vehicle, which is observable without inspection, such as where the passengers sit." Ali Najafi Tavana, a lawyer, also emphasized the personal nature of vehicle privacy to Iran newspaper and said: "In today's world, any place that individuals can enter without permission is considered private. This issue does not only concern ordinary individuals but also includes judicial and police officers. The issue of enjoining good and forbidding wrong that the police refer to has specific principles and rules that must be observed. The police must first warn individuals if they observe un-Islamic standards; therefore, detaining and confiscating vehicles is illegal." This lawyer pointed out that "there is disagreement regarding the personal nature of private offices, vehicles, tents, and calls. The police do not consider these places as private, which contradicts the observance of citizen rights." Mohammad Taher Kanani, a lawyer, referring to the ruling of the Administrative Justice Court, which stated that "searching vehicles without a judicial order and permission from the individual is not permissible," told Iran newspaper: "According to Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code, being without hijab is only considered a crime in public places, and since vehicles are private, being without hijab in them is not a crime." This lawyer stated that "Article 22 of the Constitution also emphasizes the 'immunity of property, life, residence, and belongings of individuals,'" and said: "If the police, citing the law of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, want to act, they can only warn them; therefore, detaining and arresting individuals is arbitrary and illegal." Iran newspaper noted that "the issue of whether the inside of vehicles is personal or not is a topic that resurfaces every few years between the police and the country's officials," recalling that "this issue has recently come back into the spotlight after the seventeenth press conference of the police spokesperson, as Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi explicitly stated: 'Places that are visible to the public without investigation, including vehicles, are not subject to privacy, and naturally, norms and obligations must be observed in them.'" Arman newspaper, in a report about "abortion for 250,000 tomans," wrote: "The price of abortion pills ranges from 250,000 to 350,000 tomans" and "almost everyone has this pill; from midwives and obstetricians to herbalists and some pharmacy workers." This newspaper quoted Shahla Kazemi Pour, a sociologist, as saying: "Health Ministry officials have reported statistics of 200,000 to 300,000 abortions in the country, and against 1.5 million births, about one-fifth of this number of abortions occur in the country, which includes both intentional and unintentional abortions." Mohsen Alijani Zamani, a member of the Health Commission of the tenth parliament, also told Arman newspaper: "Among the important reasons for illegal abortion are unwanted pregnancy, couples' economic and livelihood problems. Other reasons for illegal abortion include delays in marriage due to economic issues, reluctance to have more children, pregnancy at a young or old age, appropriate spacing between children's ages, a desire for fewer children, intentions to separate and break marital relationships, gender preference for a son over a daughter or vice versa, lack of education on birth control for couples, lack of decision-making for pregnancy, and not having suitable conditions for determining therapeutic abortion within the legal timeframe, the influence of films and pictures from satellite and the internet in promoting immoral relationships, sexual assault, and illegitimate pregnancies.