Examination of Three Electoral Claims by Rouhani on the First Day of Campaigning

Hassan Rouhani, on the first days of his electoral campaign, made comments regarding the atmosphere in universities, the state of 'freedom of expression' in Iran, and the improvement of air pollution in Fars province. This report scrutinizes the alignment of these statements with existing realities. As one of the candidates in the twelfth presidential election, Mr. Rouhani began his campaign on Sunday, April 22, with promises to continue 'freedom of expression' and to ensure that the atmosphere in 'universities' would not become security-oriented if he wins the elections. The President of Iran inaugurated several industrial projects in Qazvin on Sunday - which his conservative rivals claim had been inaugurated previously - and then defended part of his government's performance in a campaign speech to his supporters. The focus of this presidential candidate's speech was on two major themes: the existence of 'freedom of expression' in Iranian society and the non-security nature of 'universities' during his eleventh government. Mr. Rouhani stated to his supporters that the upcoming competition is not about electing a president, but rather about the continuation of the path of 'freedom of expression' in the country and the 'non-security' of Iranian universities. How do each of these statements relate to the current realities of Iranian society? Rouhani's emphasis on the 'non-security' of universities comes just a week after a statement from 72 student Islamic associations regarding the summons of 50 student activists to judicial authorities and the suspension of seven Islamic associations in recent years. This statement mentions the suspension of the activities of seven Islamic associations in recent months by the oversight committees on student organizations. The oversight committee is composed of the university president (as the head of the committee), the representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the university, and a representative from the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education or Health, Treatment, and Medical Education. This composition indicates that the majority of members of the oversight committees on student organizations in universities are appointed or close to the government, and the summons of 50 students and the suspension of seven associations occurred with the favorable opinion of the members of these committees. The statement from these student organizations also mentions that the aforementioned committees have systematically resorted to clear violations of the law through 'arranging speakers for events or unlawful interventions in the process of holding association programs.' The statement further declares that Islamic associations face 22 obstacles and issues in their activities, one of which is 'threats and summons of activists to security agencies and lack of support from the university and the ministries of science and health.' 'Failure to grant permits for association programs without the slightest explanation,' 'sudden cancellation of permits issued for programs at the last minute without explanation,' 'interference from various university bodies including security in the internal affairs of associations,' and 'pre-publication oversight of related publications and posters' are among other obstacles reported for student organizations during Rouhani's government. Last August, 92 student organizations wrote to Hassan Rouhani criticizing the continuation of the 'climate of intimidation and threats' and the 'security' atmosphere in Iranian universities, protesting the cancellation of student organization programs. In Bahman 1394, 813 student publication activists wrote to the Iranian president asking him to issue a 'decisive order' to higher education officials to prevent the 'growing trend of illegal actions' against these publications. The continued prohibition of Bahai students from entering universities is another human rights violation in Iran that has persisted under Hassan Rouhani's government, with reports indicating that in Dey 1395, eight Bahai students were expelled from university due to their religious beliefs. The violation of freedom of expression and pressure against minorities has intensified, particularly in a 'covert' manner against the Bahai community in Iran, which is another indicator of the level of 'freedom of expression' and social, cultural, and civil liberties for minorities during Rouhani's four-year presidency. According to a report from the Bahai International Committee in Aban 1395, since Hassan Rouhani came to power, thousands of articles and writings against Bahais have been published, 151 individuals have been arrested, and nearly 400 cases of economic and educational discrimination against Bahais have been reported. The report states that despite the government's commitment to counter inappropriate actions against religious groups and minorities in Iran, the situation for these citizens has significantly worsened. The committee also announced that since Mr. Rouhani took office, over 20,000 'hate-filled propaganda' articles against Bahais have been published in national media. The report mentions the arrest of 151 Bahais and states that at least 388 cases of educational and economic discrimination against followers of this religion have occurred in Iran. The Bahai International Community has also reported that thousands of Bahai believers are still being prevented from entering universities in Iran, and at least 38 of them have been expelled from university in the past three years. The arrest of journalists, artists, and political and civil activists, women's rights activists, trial processes, prison conditions, torture, and corporal punishment are other human rights violations in Iran that have continued during Rouhani's presidency, contrary to his promises made in 1392. In this regard, international human rights monitoring organizations have repeatedly reported that the situation in Iran regarding human rights violations and pressure on civil and media activists has not improved during Mr. Rouhani's presidency. In this context, Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has also assessed Mr. Rouhani's record on legal freedoms as 'very weak.' Throughout his four years in office, Rouhani's government has always responded to these criticisms by stating that some of these events are beyond the government's control, yet during electoral competitions, he again promotes and campaigns on such issues, claiming that other agencies are also involved. Different statistics on the number of polluted days in Fars province were presented by Hassan Rouhani on Sunday during the fifth international conference of the World Assembly of Islamic Cities, where he dedicated part of his speech to presenting statistics on the 'success' of his government in reducing the number of polluted days in Fars province. In this speech, Mr. Rouhani attacked Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, for 'selling density' to cover the costs of managing Tehran, presenting the 'reduction' of polluted days in Fars province as one of the successful examples of urban management in his government. He stated that 'today in some cities, we have managed to improve the [environmental] situation compared to before.' The eleventh government president added that Fars province had no polluted days in the year 1395, while 'in previous years, there were on average between 150 to 200 polluted days per year.' However, according to official reports published on the website of the Fars province Environmental Protection Agency, although Shiraz city had 365 clean air days in 1395, other cities in Fars province were struggling with air pollution. According to a table published on the website of the Environmental Protection Agency, Shiraz had 23 days of dangerous air in 1392, which increased to 58 days in 1393 and decreased to 9 days in 1394. The newspaper 'Khabar Jonoob' also reported in Dey 1395 that the air in Shiraz had been reported as unhealthy for only 314 days in the past 10 years. This newspaper cited 'backwardness' of this city compared to other metropolises in Iran as one reason for the clean air in Shiraz in these years. An examination of official statistics indicates that Hassan Rouhani generalized the cleanliness of Shiraz's air throughout the entire year of 1395 to all cities in Fars province. Rouhani's statements regarding 150 to 200 polluted days in previous years in Fars province, if only related to Shiraz city, also differ from the official statistics reported by the officials of the Environmental Protection Agency of this province.