Details of the Removal of Subsidies for High-Income Individuals

The Iran newspaper, close to the government, in the headline of its April 22 issue published 'Details of the Removal of Subsidies for High-Income Individuals,' quoting Ahmad Meidari, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, stating: 'The number and price of household cars, place of residence, foreign travel, and the value of real estate transactions are criteria for identifying high-income individuals. The occupation of individuals is another criterion that will be referenced in identifying and removing subsidies.' According to this government official, 'the occupation of individuals is another criterion that will be referenced in identifying and removing subsidies. However, the Iran newspaper quoted Ahmad Meidari as saying: 'The removal of subsidies for 24 million high-income individuals is not the government's proposal; this is a decision that the Islamic Consultative Assembly will make, and the government is waiting for the Assembly to determine this matter.' Simultaneously, the Jahan Sanat newspaper, in its headline, quoted the same government official stating: 'Checking bank accounts is a red line for the government,' as Hassan Rouhani 'has ordered that we are not allowed to check them, and therefore it is not considered a criterion for removal.' This newspaper pointed out that 'the Joint Commission of the Assembly has announced in its resolution that all individuals in the top three deciles of society and workers in six occupational groups, provided they have an income of over 35 million annually, will be removed from the subsidy list, but now Ahmad Meidari has reported other criteria for removal,' where 'the most important criteria for removing subsidies are owning a car, real estate transactions, individuals' place of residence, and their occupation.' According to Jahan Sanat, the removal of subsidies does not include families with more than five members, and in the resolution sent by the Joint Commission to the Assembly for the removal of 24 million individuals, it has stated that 'households with more than five dependents, regardless of income level, should benefit from receiving subsidies.' The Etemad newspaper, while publishing a photo of Hassan Rouhani on its front page alongside the headline 'Artillery Against the Presidential Office,' implicitly referred to attacks by Kayhan and other media close to the principlist faction against the eleventh government and examined 'why criticism of Rouhani and the government has intensified.' Mahshid Sotoudeh, in her report for Etemad, noted that the strategy of the principlists in their recent attacks is for 'Hassan Rouhani to be the target of criticism. Criticism is pouring in from all sides towards him,' emphasizing that the goal of the principlists is to 'ensure that June 2017 does not resemble March 2016,' and this 'nightmare of repeating March 2016 and June 2013' has accelerated attacks from government opponents. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, a member of the Construction Workers Party, in a note in Etemad, evaluated the new wave of principlist attacks on the government as 'natural' and stemming from their defeat in two consecutive presidential elections in 2013 and the parliamentary elections on March 7, 2016, writing: 'The arena of elections and political activity is a competitive field of praises and criticisms that political groups direct towards each other. From this perspective, the current situation should not be too concerning for government supporters.' The Etemad columnist emphasized: 'Reformists and government supporters should take the rival faction's activities regarding criticisms and even in some cases political attacks positively and view it as one of the necessities and real needs of political competition.' The Hamdeli newspaper also speculated about 'the principlists' candidates for the 2017 elections, naming one of the principlists' programs as 'four years of Hassan Rouhani's government.' This newspaper mentioned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saeed Jalili, and Ezzatollah Zarghami as three potential principlist candidates in the 2017 presidential elections. Hamdeli, without naming Parviz Fattah, the head of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation and Minister of Energy in Ahmadinejad's first government, referred to his characteristics, stating: 'Among them, one of the executives from Ahmadinejad's first government has gained attention, who currently heads one of the institutions that a large part of the rural and deprived community is connected with.' The Farhikhtegan newspaper reported on the preparation of a 'comprehensive bill for the protection of women against violence' in the government, stating: Shahindokht Molaverdi, Deputy for Women and Family Affairs of the Islamic Republic, announced that this bill, after being drafted in the previous government and opposed by the judiciary regarding some of its sections, with the addition of 10 articles by the eleventh government to prevent violence against women, will soon be submitted to the Assembly. Somayeh Alipour, in a report for Farhikhtegan, wrote: 'Expert reviews in terms of educational, deterrent, cultural, supportive, and protective measures' are the most significant issues emphasized by Shahindokht Molaverdi in this bill. According to this newspaper, 'Based on the latest statistics announced by the Women's Affairs Department, one in three women experiences physical, psychological, or sexual violence at some point in their lives, manifested in forms such as domestic violence, workplace harassment, threats in cyberspace, and rape.' Zahra Arzani, a lawyer and women's rights activist, regarding the potential effects of the bill's approval in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told Farhikhtegan: 'This law does not only summarize violence as physical harm but also addresses economic, psychological, and sexual issues concerning women,' and another feature of this bill is 'its educational aspects,' and 'ministries like Education and Science may dedicate parts of their education to this issue.' The Qanoon newspaper dedicated its front page to a protest gathering against the transfer of the Museum of Contemporary Arts to the Rudaki Foundation, reporting: 'A group of protesters against the transfer of the Museum of Contemporary Arts gathered at 3 PM yesterday in front of the museum,' where 'artists, university professors, and art students were present.' According to this newspaper, some of the placards held by the protesters read phrases like 'Do not transfer the national treasure,' 'No to privatization,' 'Do not transfer national capital,' and 'Mr. President, save the Museum of Contemporary Arts,' with Abbas Mashhadi Zadeh, an artist and researcher, stating: 'We will pursue the protection of our home, not today, not tomorrow, but as long as our hearts beat, because this is the home of culture. Art is the jewel of culture; we will protect even the bricks of this place.' Mina Mehri, a reporter for Qanoon, noted that during the gathering on Saturday, 'the discussion of the museum's transfer by Majid Malanourouzi, the caretaker of the Museum of Contemporary Arts, was completely ruled out,' writing: 'Now, what has been firmly registered in the more alert public opinion is the necessity of announcing a precise list of the museum's treasure for the protection of the people from their national assets.' The Qanoon newspaper emphasized that 'the museum includes the most comprehensive and important collections of modern art from after World War II to before the 1980s outside Europe and North America,' reporting that there are 4,000 valuable works from the elite of visual arts in Iran and the world in the permanent collection of this museum, with 'most of these works purchased in the 1970s under the supervision of Farah Pahlavi,' and 'nearly 400 of them have exceptional value,' estimating 'the value of the works in the Museum of Contemporary Arts at approximately 2.5 billion dollars.' Jalal Khoshchehreh, in an editorial for Ebtekar, emphasized that 'the people have moved beyond populists,' writing: 'Speculations by a large section of the country's media about the return of the President of the ninth and tenth governments to the scene of electoral competition are more of an effort to create a commotion over nothing than a studied action in the service of public awareness.' The Iran newspaper dedicated its front page to the 'first international marathon' with the slogan 'I run in Iran,' reporting: '20 participants from 30 countries held a marathon race yesterday to reflect the global security of Iran, running from Persepolis to the Gate of Quran in Shiraz.' The Javan newspaper, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its headline wrote: 'Every hour, 150 people are added to the unemployed.' The Hemayat newspaper, affiliated with the prison organization, also in its headline quoted military commanders in Iran stating: 'Iran's missile capabilities are non-negotiable.' The Resalat newspaper, another newspaper close to the principlists, also in its headline quoted Hossein Dehghan, the Minister of Defense of the eleventh government, regarding the statements of the U.S. Secretary of State, saying: 'John Kerry should think about three questions and not talk nonsense.' 'Housing in the Desert' is the headline of the Vaghaye Ettefaghieh newspaper, which published Hassan Rouhani's criticism of Mehr Housing in a meeting with the Central Council of the Housing Foundation. The Shargh newspaper also described the recent statements of Mahmoud Bahmani, the former Central Bank Governor, as 'the defense of Ahmadinejad's appointee of Babak Zanjani's method,' noting that Mahmoud Bahmani was among those who 'signed the resolution approving Zanjani,' quoting him as saying: 'You cannot tell everything to the people. During the sanctions, everything is confidential and secret. If we say how we acted, they will all get caught.' The Qanoon newspaper also quoted Nobahar Zanjani, Babak Zanjani's sister, who said on Saturday in an interview with ISNA: 'My brother was a key figure in circumventing sanctions.' In this context, 'a new phase' of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's activities 'raises concerns about the resumption of the scenario of closing cafes,' Kayhan accused Rouhani of 'concealing the damages of the JCPOA,' 'from the gates to the leaks' changing the battlefield of 'proxy wars'; a war against the people in the streets of Iran.