Elderly Leadership in Coma

The newspaper Etemad has reported on its front page about a "warning from Qom to Ali Jannati," stating that the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary has issued a strongly worded statement threatening the Ministry of Culture with an "end to patience" and "public action" regarding concerts. According to this newspaper, the city of Qom, which has recently made headlines with the first reaction from one of the religious authorities regarding the holding of concerts, has once again issued a statement from the Society of Teachers to announce the positions of the clergy in this city, publicly expressing their objection to the government and the Minister of Culture for the fourth time. The statement, signed by Mohammad Yazdi, head of the Supreme Council of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary, expresses "objection to the holding of concerts in Qom" and emphasizes that "the disrespectful and illogical actions of the managers of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Qom in holding concerts are unacceptable and a move far from the dignity of the holy city of Qom." The Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary has firmly condemned this unworthy act and reminded the need to pay attention to Islamic and cultural values, demanding accountability for those responsible for organizing such controversial concerts. They warned officials that in a situation where the country needs solidarity, unity, and calm under the shadow of adherence to divine commandments, such movements are not in the interest of them or the country and harm their popular base. Etemad reported that the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary emphasized that "the patience and tolerance of the religious people and great authorities are limited," warning officials not to let the public take action against these movements, as the material and spiritual damages may not be easily compensable. Rezvaneh Rezai-Pour, in Etemad's report, referred to previous warnings and confidential letters from the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary to Hassan Rouhani, stating that now "the warnings from Qom to Tehran have taken the form of a warning." The newspapers Javan and Vatan-e Emruz have verbally attacked Sigmar Gabriel, the German Minister of Economy and Deputy Chancellor, ahead of his trip to Tehran, labeling him as a "friend of the Zionists." The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, published a photo of Sigmar Gabriel on its front page, stating: "Do not let this friend of the Zionists into Iran." According to this newspaper, "the German Minister of Economy, who is set to arrive in Tehran with a political suitcase on Sunday, says he is coming to negotiate with the Iranian government on recognizing Israel, human rights issues, and Syria." Jafar Takbiri in Javan wrote: "Identity transformation in exchange for economic relations... this summarizes the preconditions set by Sigmar Gabriel for his trip to Iran today," while noting that "Germany, as the largest economy in Europe, which was previously considered Iran's most important trading partner, has fallen behind its neighbor France in reaping the economic fruits of the nuclear deal after its signing, and perhaps it can be said that it has shown more sensitivity than other 1+5 countries regarding post-nuclear deal relations with Iran." Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the 10th Parliament, told this newspaper: "Raising such topics is unprecedented, and I believe the Germans have raised these issues in the course of their public diplomacy and know well that Iran does not pay attention to such remarks," while another member of the commission, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, emphasized that "the Foreign Ministry is expected to take a revolutionary stance on this issue and not allow this matter to become a norm, where anyone who intends to travel to Iran sets conditions for us." The Vatan-e Emruz newspaper, close to the Front of Steadfastness, also raised the question of whether "Rouhani's government accepted the precondition?" citing the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying that "no precondition was accepted for Sigmar Gabriel's trip to Iran." However, this newspaper noted that "the precondition referred to by Bahram Qasemi pertains to the issue of recognizing Israel by Iran, not the economic precondition of the German government for Gabriel's trip to Tehran," adding that "Gabriel's remarks regarding human rights negotiations during his visit to Tehran are also another instance of the Germans creating controversy for their presence in Tehran, which the Foreign Ministry spokesperson pointed out," stating: "The Islamic Republic of Iran and Germany are based on mutual interests and respect, and in this regard, no precondition is acceptable, and we consider any interference by third parties completely unacceptable and detrimental to bilateral relations." The Sharq newspaper, in its front-page article titled "Who is Ahmadinejad 96?" looks at the options for the principlists for the upcoming presidential election, mentioning "Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Parviz Fattah, and Saeed Jalili" as potential candidates of the principlist faction "in the absence of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." According to this newspaper, Amir Mohibian, an analyst of the principlist faction, contrary to his previous analyses, stated that "the scenario of supporting Hassan Rouhani has been removed from the principlists' agenda, and with the elimination of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's return, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's chances of becoming the main candidate for the principlists have increased, as he is more well-known and experienced." Mahsa Jazini, in a report for Sharq, noted that an important point that "will determine the principlists' vote balance in the upcoming elections is Ahmadinejad's voter base," and that "without Ahmadinejad's presence, the fate of this voter base is uncertain and to which current or individuals it will be directed," as Ahmadinejad's votes "do not necessarily belong to the principlist base and are in serious conflict with some principlist figures and currents, but overlap with them in some areas." The Sharq newspaper pointed out that Mohsen Ghavrian stated that "some serious supporters of Ahmadinejad may shift their allegiance to Jalili" and even "despite their serious conflicts with a figure like Qalibaf, some of them may focus on someone like Qalibaf." Citing this former student and current critic of Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, it was written that another behavior that can be predicted for Ahmadinejad's supporters is that "they may turn to new figures like Alireza Zakani or Ezzatollah Zarghami." Meanwhile, Parviz Fattah, the current head of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, in an interview with Marjan Tavakoli, a reporter for Sharq, in response to a question about the possibility of candidacy in the 96 or 1400 presidential elections, said: "Go away, lady, I really don't think about these things" and "I am running away from politics." Valiollah Shoja-Pourian, in the editorial of the Hamdeli newspaper, wrote about "the 96 elections in the post-Ahmadinejad era," stating: "The Supreme Leader's prohibition on Ahmadinejad's entry into the 96 elections has changed many equations and predictions about the presidential election. Previously, it was believed that with Ahmadinejad's presence and competition with Rouhani, a bipolar atmosphere would be created in next year's election, but now speculations about the competition have become more ambiguous, and the two main political currents in the country will redefine their electoral strategies in the new field." This newspaper emphasized that "with the possible withdrawal of Ahmadinejad from the competition, options such as Qalibaf, Zarghami, Jalili, Velayati, Hadad Adel, Fattah, and even Bahonar have a half-eye on competing with Rouhani," stressing that "given Ahmadinejad's vote balance, his chances of success compared to other principlist options were higher, as Ahmadinejad, in addition to a 4 to 7 million principlist social base, also had a special vote base from underprivileged areas and villages, and now with his prohibition, principlists have a hard job ahead to win the elections." The editorial writer of Hamdeli also noted that "the current situation may initially increase the optimism of reformists for Rouhani's success in competing with principlist options, but the absence of Ahmadinejad may pose a serious threat to reformists." Additionally, the Hamdeli newspaper reported in an article titled "Elderly Leadership in Coma," noting that principlists have always "preferred to base most of their decisions on elder statesmanship and leadership," stated that unlike the past, now "with nearly seven months left until this election, although names for elder statesmanship and leadership are being heard, it seems that this capacity of the principlist faction will not be much useful, as the principlist leaders are no longer interested in being in the midst of electoral competition and prefer to observe the electoral game from the sidelines." According to this newspaper, Massoud Jazayeri, deputy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, also commented on "some controversies regarding the involvement of the IRGC and Basij in the elections," stating: "The armed forces are prohibited from entering the elections, and if anyone has claims in this regard, they should present them." The Khorasan newspaper reported on its Sunday issue, quoting Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, the spokesman for the Society of Clergy, that "the likelihood of reaching a single candidate among the principlists is very strong." Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam stated that at present he cannot name potential candidates or even announce their number, but emphasized that the likelihood of support from the Society of Clergy "for unknown figures like in 84 is very weak." The Shahrvand newspaper reported on its front page that "Autumn Dust from Iraq Shut Down Khuzestan," stating: "Thick dust led to the closure of schools, universities, and offices, emergency readiness, and flight cancellations in Khuzestan." This newspaper emphasized that on Saturday, "the concentration of dust in Ahvaz reached 13 times the permissible limit," stating: "A new wave of dust arrived in Khuzestan from the deserts of Iraq on Friday morning. While the issue of dust in Iran has intensified, identifying domestic dust sources and combating its effects has begun in the last three years and has led to the identification of 400 main sources, but for some time now, dust from external sources has been entering the country and becoming an unwelcome guest in the sky." The Iran newspaper dedicated its front page to the "historic masterpiece of futsal," reporting that the ranking match of the futsal World Cup was held on Saturday night in Colombia, and the Iranian national team achieved third place in the world by defeating the Portuguese team. This newspaper also reported that "the 23rd historical and literary award of Mahmoud Afshar was awarded to Amir Hossein Ebtahaj in recognition of over 70 years of poetry and efforts to create solidarity among Iranians and other Persian speakers worldwide." The Farhikhtegan newspaper reported, quoting the Minister of Education, about "76,000 students aged 6 to 8 dropping out of school." Ali Asghar Fani stated that "in Sistan and Baluchestan province, we have visited students' homes and identified them one by one to bring them to class, which is unprecedented and in the past such actions were not taken, meaning that visits to students' homes were not conducted." The Farhikhtegan newspaper, while publishing a report on "dispute statistics in various provinces," stated: "The Medical Examiner's Organization reported that the provinces with the highest number of cold weapon disputes were Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, and Isfahan, with 46,000, 21,380, and 19,312 people, respectively, while the provinces with the lowest number of cold weapon disputes were Ilam, South Khorasan, and Bushehr, with 1,604, 1,683, and 1,967 people, respectively."