Daily Deaths of 8 Addicts in Iran

The newspaper Jahan San'at reported, citing Iraj Harirchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, that "8 addicts die daily in Iran" and wrote: "According to a report from the Medical Legal Organization, eight people die daily in the country due to addiction, and 65% of those who have contracted HIV are drug users." The spokesperson of the Ministry of Health pointed out that "50% of injectable drug users are infected with Hepatitis C, and 14% of injectable addicts also have HIV," stating: "In terms of disease burden, drug addiction ranks fourth in the country, while cardiovascular diseases, accidents, and cancer are considered the top three causes of death in the country." The newspaper Etemad, in its front page, quoted Hassan Rouhani as saying: "Empty silos have been filled with wheat." According to this newspaper, the President of the Islamic Republic, during the second day of his thirtieth provincial trip, spoke about the problems that existed in the country in August 2013, including discussing "Iran's wheat reserves" and stated: "On the morning of August 18, 2013, when I started working, the situation for strategic food reserves was not good, and in the country, there was wheat for only 18 days, with some provinces having wheat for only three days, but we have overcome that situation so that our wheat reserves in 2014 reached 6 to 9 months." The newspaper Noavaran reported that Hassan Rouhani, referring to the JCPOA, said: "Gaddafi's fate awaited us." This newspaper wrote: "Hassan Rouhani says they wanted to shape our country's fate like Gaddafi's; we bought our centrifuges from the same place Gaddafi bought his, and you saw what America did with them." The newspaper Arman reported on the meeting between Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha, a close figure to the reformists, stating that according to unofficial news, "Hassan Rouhani has met with Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha; a meeting whose statements, if published, will have significant impacts on the political atmosphere of the country." One member of the Society of Clerics, of which Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha is a senior member, denied the meeting of this organization with Rouhani but did not deny Mousavi Khoeiniha's meeting with Rouhani, stating to the Arman newspaper that the meeting was personal and not within the framework of the Society of Clerics. The newspaper Mardomsalari has a report on the "challenge of unfinished investigations" in nine terms of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating that "of 360 cases" of investigation, only "36 cases" were completed. This newspaper quoted Hossein Dehdashti, a former representative of Abadan in the Assembly and a member of the investigation committee of the ninth Assembly from the Social Security Organization, stating: "In these nine terms, our Assembly had 360 proposals for investigation, of which only about 10% were completed. Of course, by completion, I mean reaching the stage of report preparation and reading it in the chamber, but of this small number of cases referred to the judiciary, as far as I know, none have led to an indictment in court." The newspaper Kayhan, in its editorial on Tuesday, accused Ahmad Montazeri of publishing a voice file of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri's protests against the executions of political prisoners in 1988, of colluding with "Takfiris" and "cleansing" the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization. While Ahmad Montazeri's brother, Mohammad Montazeri, was the second prominent figure killed in the explosion of the Islamic Republic Party's office on July 7, 1981, Kayhan wrote: "Ahmad Montazeri's action in publishing his father's voice file, which was recorded unilaterally, cannot be unrelated to some other events these days, especially the Mojahedin's conference in Paris and the presence of the former head of Saudi intelligence at that conference, encouraging the Mojahedin to resume terrorist operations in Iran." Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan, wrote in an editorial titled "This Water Fuels ISIS" that: "For the slowest-minded individuals and those who possess only a little political wisdom and insight, there can be no doubt that Ahmad Montazeri's action, whether knowingly or unknowingly, was in alignment with Takfiris, and in this regard, he and some others from the American-Israeli sedition of 2009, whether they want it or not, carry the burden of serving the interests of Britain, America, and the Saudis." Meanwhile, the newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published the Chief Justice's reaction to the release of this voice file, stating that Sadegh Larijani, in a meeting of senior judicial officials, called the "recent mischief of some Western media and the collaboration of some individuals and groups inside the country with them to cleanse the crimes of the Mojahedin a mysterious and regrettable act" and said: "The crimes of the black-hearted Mojahedin cannot be cleansed, and it is regrettable that some have provided a pretext for Western media by broadcasting audio files." According to this newspaper, Sadegh Larijani, referring to the release of Ayatollah Montazeri's voice file, stated: "With their devilish tunes, they seek to distort the history of the revolution" and "the judiciary will firmly stand against those who, while trying to distort the history of the revolution, aim to create security gaps and division and tear apart the revolutionary and religious society of Iran." The newspaper Etemad dedicated a photo to Gholamali Haddad Adel, a principlist figure and the father of the Supreme Leader's daughter-in-law, who told this newspaper: "We did not have an English candidate in the 2016 Assembly elections," while the principlist coalition, of which Haddad Adel was the spokesperson, had introduced the list supported by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and reformists as the English list during the elections on March 7, 2016. The newspaper Shargh reported on a request from one of the acid attack victims in Isfahan to the President and Minister of Health, stating: "Soheila Jorkesh, a victim of the Isfahan acid attack, referring to the unsuccessful recent eye surgeries she underwent in Spain, requested help from the President and Minister of Health to regain her eyesight." According to this newspaper, Soheila Jorkesh, who is in Spain for vision recovery treatment, is not in a good mental state due to the failure of repeated surgeries and stated in an interview with ISNA: "I am going through a hard time. Every day feels like a thousand days. I am in complete darkness and do not know why at 28 years old I should be blind and unable to see anything." The newspaper Shahre Vahdat, in its front page titled "Glimmers of Peace in Syria," wrote: "The political movements of Iran, Turkey, and Russia promise hope for the end of the crisis in the Middle East." Armin Montazeri, in a report for the newspaper Shahre Vahdat, referring to the visit of Mikhail Bogdanov, special representative of Vladimir Putin for Middle Eastern affairs, to Tehran and his negotiations with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister, and Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the Assistant for Arab-African Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote: "Recent movements and diplomatic meetings among the officials of Iran, Turkey, and Russia indicate that the parties are more seriously seeking a serious solution to end the bloody five-year war in Syria than before." "Paper Immortals" is the front page report of the newspaper Hamdeli about the continuation of the publications of "Yalasharat" and "9 Dey," two newspapers close to the hardline principlist faction, which continue to be published despite repeated suspensions and even revocation of their licenses. Ali Monsef, in this report, wrote: "Despite objections to the methods and manner that the weeklies Yalasharat and 9 Dey have adopted, they continue to appear on newsstands without changing their behavior. It seems that the reactions to the unconventional behavior of these weeklies have only increased their fame, and these publications behave like immortals who can confidently return to the field each time based on the power they possess, and even one common aspect of such media is that without any previous blow changing their methods, they return to the field." The newspaper Vatan-e Emruz, close to the Front of Steadfastness, in its Tuesday issue introduced the "Iran Connect 2016" conference, which is set to take place on September 7 and 8 at the Espinas Hotel in Tehran, as an "English conference" and wrote: "What is surprising is the holding of this conference considering the laws and the application of Western sanctions in the post-sanctions atmosphere in the heart of Iran, namely Tehran." This newspaper introduced this conference, which will be attended by communication companies, as an example of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's remarks about "moral and political depravity" and quoted Ayatollah Javadi Amoli as saying: "Anyone who lets a foreigner in is a political depraved; allowing a foreigner into one's sanctuary and entering into the sanctuary of others is incompatible with honor." Valiollah Shajapurian, in the editorial of the newspaper Hamdeli titled "Reflections on the Olympics," pointed out that "some reactions to the failure of several Iranian athletes in various disciplines are inappropriate and unacceptable," emphasizing that "many of these athletes have brought honor to our country in previous periods or other global arenas, and if for any reason they did not perform to their potential in the Olympics, they should not face public pressure." The newspaper Hamdeli, while reminding that "the success of athletes in the Olympics cannot be definitively linked to the government's planning and the level of development of countries, and of course, the impact of governments' planning on their athletes' success should not be overlooked," also wrote that "failure in the Olympics should be analyzed and traced back, but it seems that the psychological pressure of some criticisms of the failures of some athletes affects the morale of other athletes." A member of the Tehran City Council pointed out that "in recent days, jokes about the participation of successful athletes in the Olympics in council elections have been circulating on social networks," stating that "it seems that the epidemic of successful athletes in the Olympics entering the political arena in Iran is growing year by year," and this "can be a warning that some athletes should not use their sports success to quickly navigate the political field, but rather enter the political arena with awareness, experience, and full understanding so that their sports history is not tarnished." The newspaper Iran dedicated a photo to an accident in Tehran, stating: "In a horrific incident at 2 am yesterday, on the west to east Babayi highway under the Sayad Shirazi bridge, a passenger car traveling at high speed suddenly veered off the main path and after colliding with the highway's guardrails and concrete pillars of the bridge, overturned, and following this horrific accident, a woman and two young men tragically lost their lives, and a young woman was also severely injured." Timour Hosseini, head of Tehran's traffic police, following this traffic accident, referring to the "50% share of the municipality in this incident that led to the death of three young people," mentioned the "lack of safety equipment, guardrails, and route safety despite police warnings" as the causes of this accident and reminded that "there are 100 similar accident-prone points" in Tehran.