Gasoline Prices Will Increase in 2017

The newspaper Etemad reported on its front page on Tuesday with the headline "Government Income, Country Expenses" that "gasoline prices will increase in 2017" and stated that if a 5% increase in energy carrier prices is implemented according to the budget bill, "the price of each liter of gasoline in 2017 may reach 1050 tomans." According to this newspaper, "based on the budget bill for 2017, the minimum increase in gasoline and other petroleum product prices next year will be 5%, and the increase in petroleum product prices in 2017 has been emphasized by the government in this budget bill." In clause (d) of note one of the 1396 budget bill, it states: "The Ministry of Oil, through the relevant subsidiary company, is obliged to renovate and develop the network of crude oil and gas condensate pipelines and petroleum products and secure the financial resources of the government's share in the development of refineries and the infrastructure for supply, storage, and distribution of products, and to provide the necessary resources from the 5% increase in the price of each liter of petroleum products, including gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil, liquefied gas, and aviation fuel, and after depositing into the national treasury, to use it up to a ceiling of fifteen thousand rials." Etemad also reported that according to this bill, "government employees' salaries for 2017 are projected to increase by 10%." The newspaper Shahrvand noted that "Hassan Rouhani, the President, submitted the 2017 budget bill to the parliament on time on Tuesday," highlighting four important budget figures including oil and dollar prices, and the share of government tax revenues from the budget and the share of development revenues, stating: "Now, after Iran's golden agreement in OPEC, the government has set the oil price at $55 and determined the budget exchange rate at 3300 tomans with an increase of 100 tomans; an event that caused controversy on Tuesday and led to a renewed surge of the dollar in the free market." According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani announced in the parliament that it is projected that "government revenue in 2017 will reach 159 trillion tomans, of which 113 trillion tomans is expected to be provided from the 2017 budget through taxes and import duties, and another 46 trillion tomans from other revenues," and accordingly, "about 71% of the 2017 revenues will come from taxes and the remaining 29% from other revenues." Shahrvand emphasized that although the increase in the government's share of revenue from taxes "indicates the government's approach to reducing oil dependency, it seems that the 2017 budget, like many budgetary plans of previous years and governments, has been set based on hopes and wishes as the infrastructure for this important issue is not in place." The newspaper Vaghaye Etefaghieh is one of the few newspapers that reported on Tuesday about the protest gathering of Tehran's public bus drivers, stating: "Workers of the Bus Company protested for the second time in the past year regarding the uncertainty of housing allocation." This newspaper reported that "on Sunday, December 5, several hundred workers from the Bus Company gathered in front of Tehran's municipality building to protest the way housing was allocated to the workers by the Tehran municipality, and in this gathering, which took place at 10 AM on 8 Beheshte Street, the workers and drivers demanded that the municipality fulfill its promises regarding housing allocation from the Bus Company cooperative." Vaghaye Etefaghieh also reported on the intervention of law enforcement in the gathering of Bus Company drivers, quoting one worker as saying: "This is our second gathering in the past year. If you search the internet for August 3 of this year, you will see that we also held a gathering on that day to protest the housing allocation situation, and today we came in front of the municipality to ask the mayor to pay attention to us, who are under the municipality, but there has been no satisfactory response. Only the law enforcement dispersed the protesting workers, and ultimately, the gathering ended without results." This newspaper also quoted one of the Bus Company workers as saying: "We work in this city with countless difficulties and have taken on the hard responsibility of public transportation with this deplorable state of the aging urban fleet, but no one hears our voice, and we have no media to convey our message to the officials." The newspaper Kayhan reported that on Sunday, during a meeting with some members of student organizations with Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, he stated that "I do not approve of Fazel Larijani's performance." According to this newspaper, the head of the judiciary said regarding Fazel Larijani's case: "I do not approve or accept his performance, and in my opinion, his actions are wrong; convey this from me. Judges are following up on this matter, and I will pursue this case without any consideration." Fazel Larijani is one of the sons of Ayatollah Mirza Hashem Amoli and the brother of Sadegh and Ali Larijani, heads of the judiciary and parliament, respectively. In the previous government, Saeed Mortazavi, the then head of the Social Security Organization, had provided a video of him to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which was broadcast in the ninth parliament, showing a conversation between Saeed Mortazavi and Fazel Larijani regarding some illegal financial actions and "wheeling and dealing" in the judiciary. Kayhan also highlighted Ali Larijani's defense of his brother Sadegh Larijani regarding the existence of "personal accounts" in this judiciary. This newspaper quoted Ali Larijani as saying: "The accounts of the judiciary are not personal, and accusing individuals is not called freedom of expression." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Dehghan, a representative from Torqabeh and Chenaran, during a public session of parliament on Sunday, referred to some comments regarding the judiciary's accounts, saying: "I have seen documents related to this issue up close; the accounts amount to one thousand billion tomans in the name of the judiciary, and I am surprised that some politically motivated individuals accuse the head of the judiciary." Kayhan reported that Ali Larijani, the head of parliament, also explained in continuation of Mohammad Dehghan's remarks that "I have previously told Mr. Mahmoud Sadeghi, who came to me with Mr. Ahmad Mazani and Alireza Rahimi, that the point you made about the judiciary's accounts is incorrect; of course, they also said that the media reported this issue, but in any case, this matter was announced from the parliament podium" but "none of those accounts are 'personal accounts'; I told Mr. Sadeghi that I inform you, and do not create misunderstandings in society; this money is in accounts related to the judiciary; in the presidency or executive bodies, budgets are in the accounts of the agencies, but it cannot be said that it is in a personal account; this misunderstanding is what happened, and I have previously said that they should correct it." The newspaper Hamdeli described these statements by Ali Larijani as "defensive" and wrote: "Ali Larijani, the head of parliament, defended his brother Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani." This newspaper recalled that "after Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, requested an explanation from the Minister of Economy regarding the judiciary's accounts, Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, complained to Ali Larijani, the head of the legislative body, who is his older brother, saying: A representative from the Hope faction, which is attributed to you, has accused the head of the judiciary of depositing billions into his account." Hamdeli noted that Mahmoud Sadeghi also, during part of the session on Tuesday, addressed the head of parliament regarding the constitutional order, referring to his arrest warrant, and quoted this parliament member as saying to Ali Larijani, the head of the tenth parliament: "You speak of Modarres and his courage; why did you not refer to the assault on the parliament? Prosecutors were lurking to arrest me. Where are you going? Why do you not defend the parliament? Why did you not react? I am not defending myself, but I am only defending the parliament, which is the legacy of the Constitutional Revolution and the blood of my martyr father." The newspaper Shargh has a report about December 7, Student Day, stating: "This year's Student Day programs are being held while conservatives have an active presence in major and prominent universities. According to a custom and tradition every year, the president goes to Tehran University on December 7, but this year, 'Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei,' the spokesman for the judiciary, will also speak at Tehran University that afternoon, and 'Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf,' the mayor of Tehran and a prominent conservative candidate for next year's elections, will also speak on Student Day. He will speak at Beheshti University at the invitation of the university's student Basij organization on Tuesday." This newspaper also reported that "Mojtaba Khosrowi, the head of the Basij at the University of Islamic Republic of Iran, has announced the holding of a Student Day seminar on December 15, with a speech by Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan, at this university, and 'Ezzatollah Zarghami' and 'Saeed Jalili' will also attend Sharif University on December 7." The newspaper Shahrvand also reported that if "previously, students sought precise signs and provided solid evidence to prove the depoliticization of universities, the cancellation of speeches, and the illegal declaration of associations and publications, now they show posters of 'joy shows' and stand-up comedy competitions" and "criticism of such programs in universities has increased in cyberspace." This newspaper simultaneously quoted Farhad Abdzadeh, the secretary-general of the Islamic Association of Students at Urmia University, stating that the implementation of the 'joy show' program by the university's extracurricular management in collaboration with the Islamic Association of Students was to prevent various problems, including depression, lack of motivation, and the spread of social harms, so that "students in Urmia take a step towards institutionalizing the culture of permissible laughter among the new generation."