Failure to Fulfill Government's Currency Promises

The newspaper Jahan San'at reported on its front page about the 'failure to fulfill the government's currency promises' and wrote: 'The dollar has crossed the 4,000 toman threshold.' According to this newspaper, 'After weeks of fluctuations in the currency market, on the first day of winter, we witnessed the dollar breaking out of the three thousand toman shell and entering the four thousand toman channel. Looking at the exchange boards across the city, we see rates between 4005 to 4015 tomans, and it is expected that the dollar will remain in the four thousand toman channel by the end of trading.' The newspaper Tejarat, in a report titled 'The Rise of the Dollar: Political, Psychological, or Economic?' emphasized that 'perhaps the deliberate negligence of the Central Bank' is one of the reasons for the dollar's price increase and even mentioned that 'there is a possibility that the Central Bank has signaled green light for an upward trend in the market to compensate for this year's budget deficit and also to generate revenue.' According to this newspaper, 'the increase in the dollar's strength against the euro' and 'seasonal and occasion-based demand' have also influenced the dollar's price increase. Tejarat also reminded that 'during the recent weeks of currency price increases in the market and with today's price changes, the difference between the official and unofficial currency prices has progressed to about 770 tomans,' while 'this price difference had decreased to less than 300 tomans just a few months ago, and Central Bank officials were pleased with this reduction in the currency gap, considering it a positive factor and a basis for unifying the exchange rate.' The front page of several Iranian newspapers on Thursday showcased the struggle between two political factions over Mohammad Javad Zarif's statements regarding 'trusting the US Secretary of State.' The newspapers Vatan-e-Emruz, Javan, and Kayhan quoted Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying: 'I admit my trust in John Kerry was a mistake.' Kayhan noted that this quote is part of the statements made by the representative of Mashhad and wrote: 'Javad Karimi Qodosi, a member of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, provided a fresh and noteworthy account of Zarif's remarks during a session with this commission on Tuesday.' However, the newspaper Shargh in a report titled 'What Zarif Did Not Say' emphasized: 'This sentence was not said by Mohammad Javad Zarif but was quoted by Javad Karimi Qodosi, and the interesting point is that Karimi Qodosi has revealed the contents of a confidential session in which he was absent.' According to this newspaper, 'the matter began with the Foreign Minister's presence at the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission meeting on Tuesday. Javad Karimi Qodosi, a conservative representative from Mashhad who has consistently questioned Zarif during the eleventh government, made statements quoting the Foreign Minister in the commission on Wednesday,' and 'this action by Karimi Qodosi, who has a history of verbal clashes with Zarif, led to Bahram Qasemi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, announcing that this representative from Mashhad 'was not present at that session, and his quote from the Foreign Minister's remarks is completely incorrect, distorted, and selective, and has been written and organized for specific exploitations,' and even 'this inaccuracy in expression and quoting is in complete contradiction with the truth of the Foreign Minister's remarks.' The newspapers Aftab Yazd, Hamdeli, Vaghaye Ettefaghieh, and Arman also rejected attributing such statements to Mohammad Javad Zarif with headlines like 'A Slap in the Face of Truth', 'Returning to Nostalgia of Lies', 'Sweet Deeds in the Style of Resistance', and 'The Absentee Representative's Prophetic Claims Against Zarif', and criticized Javad Karimi Qodosi's remarks. The newspaper Etemad also featured on its front page with the title 'Behind the Scenes of Zarif's Confidential Releases', stating: 'The Foreign Minister's remarks in the National Security Commission of the Parliament were published incompletely by a representative who was not present at the meeting.' This newspaper noted that 'Javad Karimi Qodosi, a 50-year-old representative from Mashhad who has come to the Parliament from the Stability Front, has a history of releasing confidential sessions of the National Security Commission,' recalling that 'he once again in 2013, when he was a representative in the ninth Parliament, published Zarif's remarks in the commission after his meeting with John Kerry and attendance at the UN General Assembly,' and at that time 'Kayhan had headlined: 'Rouhani's conversation with Obama and my lengthy meeting with John Kerry was inappropriate,' but 'Javad Zarif was so surprised by this headline that he suffered from back pain and was sent to the hospital.' Etemad also referred to the verbal clash between Mohammad Javad Zarif and Karimi Qodosi, stating that 'on April 5, 2015, Karimi Qodosi told Zarif that the leadership had warned in a private meeting regarding the actions of the Foreign Ministry and the Foreign Minister himself, but this phrase angered Zarif, and he said harshly: You are lying.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in a note titled 'Documenting for the Renewal of Nuclear Sanctions with Human Rights Tools' wrote: 'Perhaps one of the most important resolutions that the United Nations has issued against the Islamic Republic is the resolution that the UN General Assembly issued on Tuesday night with 85 votes in favor, 35 against, and 63 abstentions regarding the human rights situation in Iran.' This newspaper emphasized that 'over the past 40 months, the West has attempted to re-impose part of the nuclear sanctions that were only suspended on paper by the JCPOA under the pretext of human rights and terrorism against Iran,' writing: 'The action mentioned by the UN General Assembly should be considered an intermediate step towards a long-term goal, the first step of which during the eleventh government was when, in the negligence of the Parliament and the government, a European parliamentary delegation met with Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi (on December 16, 2013), three days after the interim nuclear agreement (Geneva 3) at the Greek embassy, and after that, a German and Italian delegation met with human rights activists in Iran, the outcome of these visits being the documentation of human rights issues that now must be tangibly acknowledged for the risks it poses.' The newspaper Javan predicted that in the 'future', the UN Security Council would also issue similar resolutions regarding human rights violations and Iran's support for 'terrorism' and warned that 'if the foreign policy apparatus does not officially condemn the recent resolutions in the form of statements, it should expect new human rights sanctions in the form of Security Council resolutions.' The newspaper Iran, close to the government, reported on 'abnormal traffic in the capital' and wrote: 'The tangled traffic knot of Tehran has become tighter than before, to the extent that the situation has gone beyond rain and snow, turning most hours in Tehran into peak and congested hours. Some, including several members of the Tehran City Council, believe that this traffic is artificial and abnormal, as compared to the same period, not even in comparison to a month ago, the high volume of vehicles on the streets has reached a frustrating and torturous level, yet the inaction of the police and the emptiness of the streets from police officers have seriously criticized the traffic police.' This newspaper quoted Rahmatollah Hafezi, a member of the Tehran City Council, as saying: 'Due to pressure from Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (the mayor of Tehran), the commander of Tehran's traffic police was changed, and as a result, we have witnessed heavy traffic in Tehran over the past month.' The newspaper Iran also quoted Ahmad Hakimi Pour, another member of the Tehran City Council, emphasizing that 'the traffic of the past few weeks in Tehran is abnormal.' The newspaper Shahrvand in its editorial titled 'Hidden Motives Behind Tehran's Traffic' wrote: 'There are almost 5 months left until the presidential elections. Any movement at various levels of the country can somehow be linked to this event. Often, a problem is artificially created, then the hero of the story, who wants to run for president, enters the field and solves the problem with a command and a plan. A problem that was not acute from the beginning but was fabricated. Then this heroic behavior and jihadist management will be introduced as a management model for running the country.' The writer of the Shahrvand newspaper noted that 'one of the greatest achievements of the current management of Tehran is the construction of bridges, tunnels, and highways,' writing 'it has always been said that the opening of this tunnel or bridge or highway will solve the traffic problem, and we will no longer see traffic, but what we see is an increase in traffic after the opening of these routes.' This newspaper concluded: 'Let us assume that this type of management not only covers Tehran but the entire country; what will happen? We will witness a repeat of the previous 8 years of the former government and perhaps worse.' The newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh chose a photo related to a report about 'The Blizzard of Deprivation' and wrote: 'Challenges in health, education, housing, income, etc. have led to an increase in poverty in rural and peripheral areas of the country,' and the results of academic studies in Iran show that multidimensional poverty is also increasing in rural areas of Iran. This newspaper pointed out that 'in multidimensional poverty, health, education, housing, employment, and living standards are examined, and the combination of these indicators depicts multidimensional poverty in Iran,' writing: 'According to a study by the Welfare Deputy of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, 17% of urban households and 40% of rural households in Iran are experiencing multidimensional poverty.'