Formation of Electoral Arrangement from the JCPOA Review Session

The newspaper Aftab Yazd has published a photo on its front page showing Ali Akbar Salehi next to Mohammad Javad Zarif reacting to the statements of Rouhollah Hosseinian, a representative close to the Front of Steadfastness and an opponent of the JCPOA. The newspaper headlines "Sunday Threat" and writes: "On Sunday in the parliament, Salehi was threatened with being buried in cement and Zarif with execution in Arak." The newspaper Bahar, in favor of the approval of the generalities of the plan, titled "JCPOA Passing the Death Threat Hump," wrote: "The solemn oath of Rouhollah Hosseinian to kill Ali Akbar Salehi in the heavy water reactors of Arak and bury him under a pile of cement was so pathetic that Ali Larijani's efforts to maintain the dignity and order of the parliament were rendered ineffective." The newspaper Qanoon also titled "Burial of Diplomacy Under the Cement of Extremism" reported that during the Sunday session, "opponents of the JCPOA threatened officials with death." The government-aligned newspaper Iran dedicated its front page photo to Ali Akbar Salehi and Ali Larijani, depicting events from the parliamentary session and wrote: "The Majlis stood by the JCPOA." The newspaper stated: "Ultimately, with voting and recording 139 votes in favor, 100 against, and 12 abstentions from a total of 253 representatives present in the chamber, the generalities of the proportional response plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran in implementing the JCPOA were approved, thus putting an end to the months-long tug-of-war between supporters and opponents of the agreement." Majid Ansari, the parliamentary deputy of Hassan Rouhani, confirmed the threats against government officials in his editorial in the Iran newspaper, stating that in the Sunday session, "we witnessed that respected opponents utilized all possible capacities, including constitutional warnings, reminders, and even in one case, threats against Dr. Zarif and Dr. Salehi." The newspaper Kayhan, in its front page, described the approval of the JCPOA generalities in the Islamic Consultative Assembly as a result of "engineered uproar." This newspaper also characterized the use of "death threats" against Ali Akbar Salehi by representatives opposing the JCPOA as "natural" and noted that "dozens of these threats" are exchanged daily. Kayhan, however, criticized the majority of parliament members for approving the JCPOA generalities and implicitly referred to the increasing pressures on supporters of the JCPOA, stating: "The 39-vote gap between supporters and opponents of the urgent bill indicates that merely shifting 15 to 20 representatives could change the fate of the plan and, more importantly, the review of the JCPOA." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz described the day of the approval of the JCPOA generalities in parliament as "Sunday of Deception," while the newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on its front page about the "Pride of Emad in the uproar of JCPOA approval," stating: "On Sunday, in a tense parliament, the generalities of the JCPOA plan were approved with 100 opponents, and simultaneously, the Ministry of Defense announced the successful launch of the Emad ballistic missile." The newspaper Shargh dedicated the first half of its front page to publishing photos that indicate the "failed uproar" of several representatives opposing the JCPOA, such as Alireza Zakani and Rouhollah Hosseinian and other representatives close to the Front of Steadfastness in the open session of parliament. The newspaper Etemad, in its editorial, wrote: "Two senior officials of the country were threatened with execution and burial in cement in the Arak reactor, and it is clear that no sound judgment can doubt the harshness and bitterness of this insulting statement." Bahman Kashavarz, a lawyer, emphasized that the three aspects of the threat against Ali Akbar Salehi by a parliament representative, told Bahar newspaper that according to Article 669 of the Islamic Penal Code, "whenever someone threatens another with murder or harm to their life, honor, or property, they will be punished with lashes up to 74 or imprisonment from two months to two years," and now, considering the explicit statement of "killing and burying, etc., it is certain that the crime of threat and coercion has been realized." The newspapers Bahar and Aftab Yazd, in their notes, referred to the impacts of the events of the Sunday parliament session on the internal arrangement of the ninth parliament and, of course, the political arrangement in the upcoming elections. Aftab Yazd wrote that it is already evident that "the elections in Esfand this year will be a bipolarity between ethics and immorality" and "regardless of whether conservative or reformist, right or left, hardliner or softliner, supporter of the government or opponent of the government, or any other bipolarity, people must choose between politeness and rudeness." The newspaper Jam-e-Jam reported on the "lost rights of people in airports," stating: "While people are not very satisfied with the services provided at the country's airports and the failure to respect their rights in these places, responsible officials promise to create a transformation in the services provided to the people at airports." The economic newspaper Abrar reported, along with a photo of the Iran 140 plane crash on August 10, 2014, which resulted in at least 38 deaths, that Ali Abedzadeh, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, announced the finalization of the investigation into the cause of the Iran 140 crash, stating: "The investigation of this plane crash shows that more emphasis should be placed on strengthening safety systems to prevent such incidents." The newspaper Resalat dedicated its front page photo to the funeral of Hossein Hamadani, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed in Syria on Friday. This newspaper quoted Mohsen Rezaei as saying that Hossein Hamadani "participated in 80 major operations in Syria." The Bitter Taste of Death Threat Majid Ansari, the parliamentary deputy of the President, confirmed the threats against Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister, by a parliament representative in the editorial of the Iran newspaper, stating that during the review of the urgent proportional response plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran in implementing the JCPOA in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, "we witnessed that respected opponents utilized all possible capacities, including constitutional warnings, reminders, and even in one case, threats against Dr. Zarif and Dr. Salehi." Majid Ansari also referred to the pressures on Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, and emphasized that "we closely witnessed that there was heavy pressure on the Speaker of the Parliament," stressing that "the good and valuable management of the session by Mr. Ali Larijani and Mohammad Reza Bahonar" during the approval of the JCPOA should not be overlooked. The newspaper Etemad, in its editorial titled "The Bitter Taste of Threat," wrote: "Perhaps the conclusion of the Sunday parliament session with the approval of the generalities of a plan regarding the JCPOA ultimately sweetened the taste for many and clarified the fate of the JCPOA in Iran, but this session had many sidelines, making Sunday, October 19, 2015, a bitter day in the history of the Iranian parliament. Two senior officials of the country were threatened with execution and burial in cement in the Arak reactor, and it is clear that no sound judgment can doubt the harshness and bitterness of this insulting statement." Javad Deliri, in the editorial of Etemad, pointed out that "sitting on the seat of conservatism and relying on the slogan of value-based politics is not compatible with insulting and threatening senior officials of the country," writing: "However, this does not constitute all the bitterness of the Sunday parliament session, which was made even more bitter by the silence of those who should have defended the structure and integrity of the parliament and distanced themselves from this threatening speech. But alas, no one among the uproar of the parliament on Sunday stood up to defend the dignity and integrity of the parliament and said that death threats have no place in parliament." The editorial writer of the Etemad newspaper, while noting that "the speaker of this threat and the representatives who heard this statement did not think for a moment that public opinion would at least ask in their minds and consciences what the purpose and motivation behind the threat and wish for the death of a senior official of the country and the accusations of negligence and inaction were," wrote: "The main question for them is why the great figures of the Islamic parliament remained silent in the face of this threat." Etemad also emphasized that "now public opinion, by observing the text and the bitter sidelines of the Sunday parliament session, knows who and with what claims pulled out the sharp sword of elimination and threat to undermine a national demand." Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a parliament representative, also referred to the threat against Ali Akbar Salehi as a "behavior that can be pursued" and criticized the "dual approach of conservatives," stating: "When Mr. Salehi, who is a symbol of ethics, politeness, and humility and is a prominent ethical and scientific figure, is threatened with death by some representatives, this reminds us of the time when he was approved by these same friends when he was the foreign minister in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, but now that he is truthfully and correctly conveying realities that are in line with the national interests of the country to the representatives of the nation, he becomes someone who should be buried under cement for some conservative friends." The editorial writer of Etemad wrote: "It seems that from the perspective of a spectrum of conservatives, individuals are only good as long as they are in their faction, and if they express realities that endanger their factional interests, even if it is in favor of national interests, they become subject to humiliation and threats," and now "the parliament must prove its ethical stance and distance itself from such behaviors by assigning the supervisory board on the behavior of representatives to investigate this matter." Legal Aspects of the Threat Against Salehi and Zarif Bahman Kashavarz, a lawyer, emphasized that the three aspects of the threat against Ali Akbar Salehi by a parliament representative can be pursued legally, as he told Bahar newspaper that this threat includes three "criminal descriptions, disciplinary description, and political description" and is legally actionable. This lawyer regarding the criminal aspect of such a threat stated that Article 669 of the Islamic Penal Code stipulates: "Whenever someone threatens another with murder or harm to their life, honor, or property, they will be punished with lashes up to 74 or imprisonment from two months to two years," and now, considering the explicit statement of "killing and burying, etc., it is certain that the crime of threat and coercion has been realized." According to Bahman Kashavarz, in the disciplinary aspect, since the threat against Ali Akbar Salehi "came from one of the parliament representatives, it falls under the law supervising the actions of representatives and can be addressed by the relevant commission or committee and may lead to penalties under this law." This lawyer regarding the "political aspect" of the threat against Ali Akbar Salehi by a parliament representative told Bahar newspaper: "Although respected parliament representatives have the right to express opinions on all matters of the country and can investigate all issues, and although the parliament is at the top of all matters, these do not justify actions and words that are beyond the dignity of representation and it is likely that in the decision-making of voters, this kind of behavior may have an impact, and perhaps in the review of the representative's qualifications, such matters may also have an effect. At the same time, some of the statements made may have the description of insult, defamation, or spreading falsehoods as well." Kamabiz Nourouzi, a lawyer, in a note titled "Rule of Law or Aggression" in the Shargh newspaper wrote: "In the Sunday parliament session, according to the representative from Ardabil, 'one of the representatives threatened Mr. Salehi with murder' and said: 'If the JCPOA comes to fruition, we will kill you and pour cement on you.'" This lawyer emphasized that "in the Iranian constitutional system, the principle of parliamentary immunity is recognized" and based on this principle, parliament representatives cannot be prosecuted for their statements and actions in parliament," he wrote: "Based on this principle, even the representatives mentioned cannot be prosecuted criminally." The editorial writer of the Shargh newspaper, while noting that "since the beginning of the sixth legislative period, in some courts, the parliamentary immunity of representatives has been ignored and with some legal justifications, several representatives have been prosecuted due to their statements in parliament," wrote that "this trend has continued to this day. In fact, the judiciary interprets Article 86 of the Constitution in a way that does not necessarily imply the immunity of parliament representatives." Kamabiz Nourouzi emphasized that "although despite this ongoing trend in the judiciary, I still maintain that there is complete parliamentary immunity for parliament representatives, but if the respected judiciary does not consider some statements of representatives in parliament to fall under Article 86, the legal regulations regarding the duties of prosecutors to discover and prosecute crimes that affect public dignity necessitate that those statements made in the open session that are suspected of constituting a crime should be addressed and investigated by judicial authorities." Kayhan; Death Threats are "Natural"; "Dozens of these threats are exchanged daily" The newspaper Kayhan, in its front page on Tuesday, described the approval of the JCPOA generalities in the Islamic Consultative Assembly as resulting from "engineered uproar" and characterized the death threat against Ali Akbar Salehi by representatives opposing the JCPOA as "natural," stating that "dozens of these threats" are exchanged daily. This newspaper wrote: "This nine-article plan allows the government to implement the JCPOA without any measures to prevent the harms and dangers of the JCPOA, and in this regard, it can be considered more of a generalities of Abu al-Baqa and a letter of advice." Kayhan also reported that "Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization, during the review of the generalities of the urgent proportional response plan of the government in implementing the JCPOA, said: 'A dear brother in this parliament swears an oath and tells me that we will pour cement on you and kill you. What kind of expression is that in the Islamic Republic? Is this the way to talk to us, telling us that we will pour cement on you and bury you in the heart of the Arak reactor?'" This newspaper described Ali Akbar Salehi's remarks as "creating a diversion with a noteworthy claim" and characterized the death threat as "natural," writing: "Salehi's remarks have agitated the atmosphere of the parliament and diverted the main discussion of reviewing the plan to the sidelines and reflected.