Former President Writes Another Letter

The newspaper Shahrvand has reported on the preparation of a report regarding the clashes in Boldaji, stating that "two weeks after the clashes between some people in Boldaji in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province over the issue of water transfer, the representative of Shahrkord has announced new and accurate information about this matter." According to this newspaper, Ardeshir Nourian, the representative of Shahrkord, has announced that "after the clashes between the people of Boldaji and the police, one person was killed, 108 were injured, and 70 were arrested." This member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the tenth parliament stated that due to the scale of this clash, "the National Security Commission has intervened, and a report on this incident has been prepared, which will be presented and discussed in the meeting on Tuesday." The representative of Shahrkord explained the reason for the clashes, stating that in the last days of Tir (July), "following the officials' efforts to transfer water from the Boldaji area to Seyyed Dasht for use in a two-million-ton steel factory, clashes arose between the local people and the police," and "given that all construction phases of this steel complex have been completed, the operation of this factory is solely dependent on the transfer of the water line to the factory, but the people oppose this plan and have blocked the water transfer, which led to police intervention." The Shahrvand newspaper reminded that "after this incident, the sensitivity of water management in some provinces was raised; an issue that seems to be more serious than ever in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Although this province is one of the water-richest areas in Iran, for several years, providing water to its villages, which are mostly remote and deprived, has become problematic, and it is said that over 500 villages in this province are supplied with water by tankers." The transfer of water from Zagros to some cities like Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman, and Qom, drought, and excessive drilling of wells in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province are cited as reasons for the emergence of the "water issue." The newspaper Etemad has highlighted the statements of Majid Ansari, the legal deputy of the government, regarding "complaints against those insulting the president," stating that "the first complaint against the offenders of the eleventh government president is on its way." This newspaper wrote that the complaint against those insulting Hassan Rouhani "should have happened long ago to reduce the number of attackers somewhat," and now that Majid Ansari has entered the legal deputy presidency coinciding with the intensification of attacks on the eleventh government president, "he prefers legal actions even if Hassan Rouhani is not satisfied." Majid Ansari stated that after Hassan Rouhani's television interview last week, "unprecedented insults and slanders occurred against him," and "they tried very hard to make Hassan Rouhani angry," adding that some clerics also played a role in insulting the president, and "I emphasized to the relevant unit in the legal deputy to file a complaint in the special court for clergy." The newspaper Shargh has caricatured Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to the President of the United States on its front page, emphasizing that this letter has more "domestic consumption" and can be interpreted as a letter "to cleanse himself in the matter of the blocking of about two billion dollars." According to this newspaper, the former president mentioned in this letter, which is written on a letterhead stating "President of the ninth and tenth terms," the "blocking of about two billion dollars of Iranian assets in the U.S." and wrote: "The Iranian nation expects that this specific case, which occurred entirely and explicitly during your rule and also in the last days of your presidency and contrary to all international legal norms, will be resolved quickly by you, and the rights of the Iranian nation will be restored, and the resources will be fully returned, and the damages incurred will also be compensated." Shargh emphasized that in Ahmadinejad's letter, "July 9, 2014, is mentioned as the date of the confiscation of Iranian assets," stating: "Perhaps he was given incorrect information; because this date is the date of the appeal ruling, while the date of the original ruling in the federal court in New York was in 2008, and the ruling was confirmed in 2012." This newspaper also wrote that "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may know that this letter has no feedback or impact on the court's decision and will not affect Iran-U.S. relations; however, he has tried to mislead about the blocking of Iranian assets and, in addition to shirking responsibility for his government regarding the blocking of assets, to have an opportunity to present himself as a defender of Iranian rights." The newspaper Khorasan reported that "in the continuation of the investigation into the extortion case with the fake registration site for defending the shrine, a person known as Abu Har has also been identified and arrested in Mashhad." Hassan Heydari, the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad, confirmed the arrest of "Abu Har" to Khorasan newspaper, stating: "The IRGC forces, while monitoring websites and virtual spaces, obtained information indicating that a fake site was using the title of the IRGC to register for dispatch to Syria and Iraq, and intelligence monitoring began with special judicial orders, and it became clear that the forgers of this site were committing fraud and extortion by obtaining complete personal information from individuals and misusing this information." The deputy prosecutor of Mashhad pointed out that "further investigations revealed that these individuals, by wearing clothes similar to shrine defenders and telling false war stories from neighboring countries, were trying to gain the trust of the youth," stating that "four of these individuals were arrested in Mashhad," and "some of them were trying to label their nonsense as storytelling and exploit the pure emotions and feelings of the youth." According to Khorasan newspaper, the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad also referred to "the discovery of fake documents and orders from the IRGC from some defendants in this case," stating: "An inquiry from the IRGC confirmed that these individuals had not been dispatched across the border as military advisors at all, and they used forged documents." Hassan Heydari emphasized that "the judiciary will deal decisively and firmly with those who exploit the pure feelings of the people and the youth of this land, and no leniency will be shown in such cases," stating: "The defendants in this case are currently in custody." The real name and identity of "Abu Har" have not been disclosed by the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad, but media close to conservatives have previously published photos of a person named "Abu Har," introducing him as a "defender of the shrine" and an Iranian advisor in Syria. The newspaper Teadell quoted Mohammad Baqer Nobakht as saying: "After the JCPOA, 5 billion and 168 million dollars of foreign direct investment has been injected into the Iranian economy, and oil exports have increased from 1 million and 200 thousand barrels to 2 million and 578 thousand barrels." This newspaper noted that Mohammad Baqer Nobakht stated these figures after the dissolution of the Management and Planning Organization and its transformation into the Planning and Budget Organization and in his first press conference in this new organization. At the same time, the newspaper Kayhan, in its front page, again rejected the achievements of the JCPOA, writing: "The Minister of Economy also confirmed almost nothing." This newspaper quoted Ali Tayebnia as saying: "Large banks do not work seriously with us." The newspaper Iran, close to the government, dedicated its front page to the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani in Baku, quoting the Iranian president as saying: "Tehran and Moscow are moving toward strategic cooperation." Alireza Sanei, a senior expert on Russian affairs, wrote in the editorial of Iran newspaper: "This is the eighth meeting of the two presidents in about three years, and due to the prevailing conditions in the region and recent developments at the regional and international levels and their impact on future trends, it is of great significance." The editorial writer of Iran newspaper, while enumerating some of the memorandums and economic contracts, emphasized that "Middle Eastern developments, especially in Syria, have not progressed according to the estimates and evaluations of the U.S., the West, and their regional allies, and Iran and Russia are creating a strategic alliance in Syria to change the course of developments in the region and are experiencing a kind of strategic cooperation in the military field in Syria." The newspaper Farhikhtegan quoted Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, as saying: "The receipt of 400 million dollars from the Islamic Republic of Iran's claims against the U.S. is related to the case of military purchases before the revolution and has no connection to nuclear negotiations."