Etemad Report on Suicides in Tehran Metro

The Iranian newspaper Etemad, close to the government, has dedicated a front-page photo to a picture of the economy ministers of Germany and Iran during the signing of 10 economic cooperation documents between Iran and Germany in Tehran, stating that these agreements cover a very wide range of joint cooperation in financing projects, mutual investment, joint investment, banking and insurance cooperation, infrastructure provision in oil, gas, and petrochemical energy, renewable energy, railways, environment, road and urban development, automotive, aviation, and technology transfer. The newspaper emphasized that on Tuesday, an important event occurred during the meeting of members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce with the largest German economic delegation, which was the re-establishment of the joint commission between the two countries after 15 years. Omid Yaraqi, the head of the Iran-Germany Chamber of Commerce, also wrote in an editorial in Etemad titled 'Global Messages of German Economic Presence in Iran' that Sigmar Gabriel, 'the Minister of Economy and Deputy Chancellor of Germany, is coming to Iran after the JCPOA. His renewed presence is, of course, a strong message and signal for global commercial and economic markets. 126 major German companies, the Central Bank of Germany, and two major German banks are present in this delegation, and this is a significant message to the global community that one of the largest economies in the world has resumed its commercial and economic relations with Iran.' However, the newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has quoted Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, on its front page stating, 'They should not have allowed the German minister to enter.' According to this newspaper, Sadegh Larijani, 'strongly criticizing the recent remarks of the German economy minister regarding the need to recognize Israel and some human rights claims against Iran,' stated, 'If I were in the place of the esteemed government and the foreign minister, I would certainly not allow such a person to enter the country,' adding that 'the officials of the Islamic Republic will not allow figures like the German minister to interfere in their internal affairs.' Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan, also wrote in a note titled 'Mr. Gabriel! Don't write on this wall,' stating, 'German officials should heed the reality that the U.S. and its allies, including Germany, have tested many times, and they should be assured that their counterpart in Islamic Iran is not the government and the foreign ministry, so they cannot extend their hand to violate our country by exploiting their passivity and weakness. The Germans and their allies in Islamic Iran are facing vast masses of pure and honorable people who have not allowed any encroachment on their national interests for over thirty years.' The Kayhan writer accused the government of Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of 'accepting humiliation and passivity in the face of the German economy minister,' while simultaneously implying that they lack power in Iran, stating, 'It is very foolish if European and American officials do not see this vast mass in their future outlook and are comforted by the passivity of the foreign ministry and write on the wall of the passivity of some officials.' The newspapers Arman, Shargh, and Hamdeli have reported new details about the transfer of astronomical properties by the Tehran municipality and the existence of multiple corruption cases in the Economic Corruption Combat Headquarters. The Arman newspaper, referring to 'Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's letter to the Economic Corruption Combat Headquarters,' quoted Kazem Palizdar, the secretary of this headquarters, stating that in this letter, 'the mayor of Tehran reported all the clauses and permits he could refer to,' and the Economic Corruption Combat Headquarters 'is examining it to see how much these approvals apply to this manner of action.' The secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption stated that the unknown aspect of this case is that 'the individuals to whom the properties have been transferred are a number of municipal employees and some are not, so we are examining what permit the municipality used to transfer these properties,' as 'the manner of transfer is important to us because if the relationships were respected, this action is natural. However, whether this action was within the municipality's authority or not is still a question for us, which we are examining in the Coordination Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption.' The Arman newspaper reported that 'the publication of the inspection organization's letter and addressing these unknowns led to the closure of some websites publishing the letter, and now officials from 14 news sites and Telegram channels must respond to the complaints of five members of the City Council at the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office.' The Hamdeli newspaper also reported on its front page titled 'The Unusuals on the Table,' quoting Kazem Palizdar from a press conference of the Coordination Headquarters for Combating Economic Corruption, stating, 'Nearly 300 cases are under review in this headquarters, including unusual cases such as 'astronomical salaries' and the controversial issue known as 'the transfer of astronomical properties by the Tehran municipality to certain individuals.' He emphasized that 'the media should be able to pursue corruption,' referring to the arrests and pressures on the media after the disclosure of the 'astronomical properties of the Tehran municipality' and stated, 'We are in the process of dealing with the media, and we have also spoken on our part, but on the other hand, we expect the media to exercise the necessary caution and not say anything recklessly that cannot be proven, and on the other hand, the environment should be such that the media can pursue the issue, which we have also requested from the judiciary.' According to Hamdeli, Kazem Palizdar, in response to a question about the $800 million Bank Mellat case and its connection to one of the president's close associates, stated, 'Nothing is directed at him, and only his name has been mentioned in the media. In that case, the CEO of Bank Mellat was arrested, and the violation was as it was, but attributing this issue to a specific person is another matter. If it is proven that he has benefited, that is a separate discussion, but not even a complaint has been filed against this person.' Previously, some media close to the principlists had accused Hossein Fereydoun, the brother and assistant of President Hassan Rouhani, of supporting the appointment of the CEO of Bank Mellat. The Shargh newspaper also reported on its front page titled 'The Municipality Case on the Table' about the meeting of members of the Tehran City Council with Tehran representatives in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating, 'The investigation and inspection of the municipality has reached the meeting of the city council members and Tehran representatives.' Mehdi Ghadimi in a report for Shargh wrote, 'The hosting of the hopeful list members who are currently seeking to investigate the Tehran municipality by the city council members who elected the mayor and whose majority also supports the mayor of Tehran, no matter how friendly and cordial it is, and no matter how much both sides emphasize reaching a common perspective on the numerous problems of the capital, could not be away from the current atmosphere; an atmosphere where both the astronomical properties are discussed and the actions of some council members in complaining about websites and journalists are criticized. However, one of the most interesting discussions of the meeting was the initial remarks of Chahraman and his complaints about the Guardian Council.' Mostafa Kaveh Kabi, one of the representatives of Tehran in the tenth parliament, addressed the members of the Tehran City Council, saying, 'As representatives of the people who also have a hand in the public treasury, we must be sensitive to oversight over the public treasury, and we expect that when we prepare the investigation and inspection plan for the Tehran municipality to clarify issues like astronomical properties, the friends in the city council will help, not that sometimes we hear from the sides that some friends have said that this work interferes with the jurisdiction of the city council.' Shargh also reported that Mehdi Chahraman, the head of the Tehran City Council, in this meeting criticized the Guardian Council, stating, 'Our problem is that there is a difference between our view and the view of the parliament members regarding the city council and the view of the Guardian Council towards the councils.' He even stated, 'When the law of councils was first passed, many powers such as choosing the mayor and preparing the program and budget and selecting city council members were given to the councils, but in the 2003 revision that took place during the ministry of Mr. Mousavi Lari, the Guardian Council had a change of perspective in interpreting the law, and based on this new perspective, councils can only supervise and cannot do anything else.' Mehdi Chahraman emphasized that 'according to the principles of the constitution, councils are also in a decision-making position,' stating, 'The Guardian Council has only taken Article 100 as the basis for interpretation, which states that councils have a supervisory duty, and regarding this article, the Guardian Council only recognizes the councils' supervision over municipalities and does not consider other city affairs under the councils' supervision.' According to Shargh, the head of the Tehran City Council confirmed Mohammad Reza Aref's views on the necessity of 'delegating city affairs to councils,' addressing the Tehran representatives in the tenth parliament, stating, 'We hope that with your help in the parliament, this disagreement with the Guardian Council will be resolved.' The Shahrvand newspaper dedicated its front page to a drawing of the late filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and with the headline 'Only Three Months,' reported that according to the ruling of the Medical System Organization's preliminary board, Kiarostami's treating physician has been banned from practicing for three months. According to this newspaper, the ruling of the Medical System Organization's preliminary board states: 'Due to the delay in performing the second surgical operation despite clinical and paraclinical evidence of the patient's bleeding, which led to subsequent complications, there is also a discrepancy in the operation report and the treating physician's verbal statements, the failure to record the results and daily progress of the patient's condition in the clinical file, and leaving the patient with complications and going on a trip, which is considered medical negligence, has been established and confirmed, and based on the alignment of the mentioned disciplinary violation with Article 3 and subsection 'Th' of Article 37 of the disciplinary regulations for addressing professional and occupational violations of medical professionals and related professions, and based on subsection 'D' of Note 1 of Article 28 of the law establishing the Medical System Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran approved on April 14, 2004, a ruling has been issued for the mentioned individual to be banned from practicing for three months in the place of the violation and is announced.' The Shahrvand newspaper also reported simultaneously that 'while the details of this physician's ruling were confirmed by Abbas Kiarostami's children on Tuesday, the head of the Medical System Organization's preliminary board did not confirm it and stated: What has been published is a letter, not a ruling, which is illegal, and a complaint will be filed against the Kiarostami family for this action.' Manouchehr Manoochehri, one of the lawyers for Kiarostami's family, described the issued ruling as 'ridiculous,' and the Shahrvand newspaper quoted him as saying: 'The punishment determined is not satisfactory and is very ridiculous. All this negligence was stated for Dr. Mir, but he was only sentenced to a three-month ban from practicing, which shows that the ruling does not correspond to the crime committed.' Manouchehr Manoochehri, who along with Adel Moghadam represents Kiarostami's family, also stated: 'The ruling was issued, and we received it from the secretariat of the preliminary board, we have not yet filed a complaint and have not decided what to do about it, but this is not a ruling we are satisfied with.' The Etemad newspaper has reported on two suicides in the Tehran Metro within 24 hours, stating: 'Two suicides, one at the Shahid Metro Station and another at the Shadman Metro Station less than 24 hours apart, and one unsuccessful suicide at the Darvazeh Shemiran Metro Station indicate the high rate of suicides in the metro.' According to this newspaper, 'On Tuesday afternoon, a 31-year-old girl at the Shadman Metro Station collided with a train as it was arriving. After this incident, emergency personnel arrived at the scene and transferred the young woman to the hospital, but hours after the incident, she died due to the severity of her injuries. It is still unclear whether the woman committed suicide or collided with the train. However, the Tehran criminal investigator will determine the main cause after reviewing the incident footage.' Etemad also reported that 'at three o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, a 65-year-old man also threw himself under the train tracks and died,' and in addition, on Sunday night, 'passengers at the Darvazeh Shemiran Metro Station witnessed a 55-year-old man saying: 'I have three unemployed sons at home. How much does a worker's salary even amount to? My wife is dying in the corner of the hospital, I can't bring her money. They threw me out. What should I do? I should die here, maybe that will save her.' This 55-year-old man was rescued from the 'railway lines' by the efforts of a metro officer and a citizen, and the Tehran Metro Public Relations Manager confirmed these three reports to Etemad, stating: 'It is unclear whether the two individuals committed suicide or not, but it may have occurred due to not adhering to the railway lines. The review of the station's surveillance cameras is underway, and additional information will be announced soon.'