Goodbye to Jamatein

The newspaper Etemad has emphasized in a report on the electoral alignment of political factions that there is a "formal end to the oldest mechanism of unity among conservatives" and has reported on the "goodbye to Jamatein." This newspaper discusses the role of the "Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary" and the "Society of Combatant Clergy of Tehran," which were referred to as "Jamatein" during the conservative electoral coalitions, stating: "Conservatives have finally set aside their formalities and officially replaced Jamatein with the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, at least for the two critical elections of 96, entrusting the mechanism for determining the presidential candidate and city council candidates to a newly formed entity called the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces." Etemad also quoted Elias Hazrati, a representative from Tehran in the tenth parliament, stating: "The 100% candidate of the reformists for the 96 elections is Mr. Rouhani. Although we believe a supportive candidate is also necessary and we think we should have a basket of candidates, not just one candidate. We need a basket of candidates in various fields and specialties, with coordination and agreement from Mr. Rouhani," as "the political arena requires special precautions and measures, and we must always observe precautions and measures." The newspaper Khorasan reported that on Thursday, "from among 50 candidates" from the conservative faction who are "in the running for candidacy for the 96 elections, voting will take place, and ultimately, with the vote of the three-thousand-member general assembly, 10 candidates will be introduced for final reviews by the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces." According to this newspaper, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, spokesperson for the conservative electoral coalition, mentioned that some founders of this electoral coalition met with members of the "Steadfast Front" and also Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, stating: "Although Saeed Jalili has not announced that he accepts the Popular Front, the opinion of all friends in the founding board was that the opinions of friends should be accepted, and Mr. Jalili's name should be put to a vote on Thursday to see if he is among the 10 who receive the highest votes or not." One day after the election of Ali Jannati, former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, as the head of the electoral headquarters of the "Moderation and Development Party," Ismail Shojaei, spokesperson for this party, announced his party's determination to ally with reformists, stating in an interview with the newspaper Iran: "The alliance of reformists and moderates, which began with the presidential elections in 92 and was strengthened in the parliamentary elections in 94, will take its third step with an alliance in the presidential elections of 96." The spokesperson for the Moderation and Development Party, which is the closest party to Hassan Rouhani, emphasized that "all reformist leaders are determined to support Mr. Rouhani, and there is no doubt about this." The newspaper Qanoon published a caricature of Mohsen Rezaei in an article titled "New Task," stating that Mohsen Rezaei, who has previously run for the presidency several times, has again expressed interest in running for the presidency. The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized in its editorial on the fourth of Esfand that "the binary of war and peace is a false dichotomy created for completely political and electoral purposes." Yadollah Javani, former head of the political office of the Revolutionary Guards, described Hassan Rouhani's and the eleventh government's view of the "JCPOA" as propaganda, writing: "Some inside the country echoed the enemy's message and declared any agreement better than no agreement during the nuclear negotiations. The main argument of the proponents of this view was that if we do not reach an agreement, war will occur. That is, with the war-agreement dichotomy, a hasty agreement was reached that certainly had the potential for a much better agreement." He stated that "now such an agreement, from the perspective of the eleventh government's officials, is primarily about security," while "firstly, Iran was not on the brink of war, and the Americans were not capable of starting a war against the Islamic Republic, and secondly, the main factor in securing the country is national power, missile capability, and the ability of the Iranian nation to respond to any potential aggressor." The editorial writer of this newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized that "the dichotomization of agreement-war is a false dichotomy with political goals for foreigners and groups inside the country," stressing that only "these experts and senior officials in the armed forces, with their intelligence oversight, are qualified to comment on the proximity or distance of military threats. Real and imminent military threats have signs and indicators that can distinguish this type of threat from invalid and hollow threats." Meanwhile, "over the past 15 years, due to reasons including the decline of American power and the growth of the Islamic Republic's power, the likelihood of war against Iran has been on a linear downward trend and has continuously decreased contrary to the rhetoric of American officials." The newspaper Iran, close to the government, noted that Hassan Rouhani would travel to Khuzestan on Thursday to "review recent events and the crisis caused by the phenomenon of dust storms," writing: "The occurrence of three severe dust storms in the past month, two of which originated domestically, led to a nationwide cutoff of water and electricity in Ahvaz and some cities in this province and the closure of schools and government offices for several days, which caused a wave of protests among the people." The newspaper reported that "in recent days, the ministers of energy and agriculture each made two trips, and the head of the Environmental Protection Organization also visited Khuzestan once to closely examine the situation, and the National Crisis Management Headquarters meeting was held on Saturday this week" to devise and implement solutions for the problems faced by the people of Khuzestan." The newspaper Iran noted that "so far, 16 diesel generators have been transferred from various cities to Ahvaz and stationed at the treatment plants to prevent any disruption in drinking water and the water supply network in case of power outages," stating that "from last Friday, 102 groups have been working in Ahvaz, and with the planned arrangements, the entire electricity distribution network in Ahvaz is scheduled to be cleaned within 15 days, and if the distribution network equipment needs to be replaced, this will be done, and currently, cleaning systems for 26 sensitive substations in the province have been purchased, and also 1500 towers from the high-voltage transmission towers, which are more sensitive, and the power transmission lines are being cleaned to remove dust and dirt from the facilities and the electricity distribution network." The newspaper Keyhan, however, described Rouhani's trip to Khuzestan as "late," writing: "After several weeks since the onset of the crisis in Khuzestan, Rouhani is coming today." This newspaper also stated in its editorial that "sympathy is only effective when we have also been a remedy for the wounds, not when we go to a community exhausted by dust with empty hands at the end of a week when the presidential office is closed and its occupants are resting." Mohammad Kianoush Rad, a former representative from Khuzestan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, wrote in a note in the newspaper Arman about the importance of Rouhani's trip to this province, stating: "The first importance of Dr. Rouhani's presence is that he is going to Khuzestan to express sympathy and solve problems, and this will also be a source of encouragement for the people. In fact, although the president did not have the opportunity to visit Khuzestan due to a foreign trip during the onslaught of dust storms, his presence shortly afterward indicates Rouhani's serious determination to identify and work to solve the problem." The editorial writer of the newspaper Arman emphasized that Khuzestan "needs both short-term and long-term strategies, and in short-term programs, issues such as ensuring no technical problems in water and electricity facilities and necessary provisions for the operation of urban water treatment plants should be observed," writing: "In the long term, identifying and scientifically addressing the phenomenon of dust storms should be prioritized. Actions such as identifying and stabilizing dust storm sources, restoring wetlands, desertification prevention, and afforestation should be the government's priorities in confronting dust storms. However, the issue of dust storms is not only a problem for Khuzestan. This province is a major economic workshop for the country, and the concern of unemployment must be addressed, and even individuals from other parts of the country should be attracted to job markets in Khuzestan." This former representative from Khuzestan emphasized that "what has been done so far regarding this province has little relation to the issues and sufferings of the people," especially noting that "one of the promises that Mr. Rouhani made to the people of Khuzestan was the non-transfer of water out of this province, except in cases to supply drinking water to other provinces," and now "the president can explain the situation to the people in a suitable, reassuring, and trust-building manner and convince the people of Khuzestan with practical promises that the eleventh government is fully alongside them to improve the situation in this province." The newspaper Shahrvand, in its front page titled "Dust Removal Mission," wrote: "Government officials have embarked on a special mission to Khuzestan. Mahmoud Hojjati, the Minister of Agriculture, who has gone to Khuzestan to plant trees in the dust storm sources, did not wish to end his mission and return to Tehran last Thursday night," while the research deputy of the Agricultural Research Organization reported that "35,000 hectares of land in Khuzestan that cause dust storms will be afforested to stabilize the soil in this area." This newspaper simultaneously quoted Hamid Chitchian, the Minister of Energy, stating: "580 million cubic meters of water from the Karun headwaters will be separated for the drinking water supply of the people to solve the muddy water problem of the Khuzestanis." The newspaper Etemad reported on the identification of one of the victims of the fire and collapse of the Plasco building, stating that on Tuesday, the second of Esfand, 33 days after the Plasco collapse incident, forensic officials contacted the family of Kamabiz Bagheri and informed them that "the forensic test for their son was positive." This newspaper noted that Kamabiz Bagheri had started working three months before the incident as an accountant in one of the production units on the fourteenth floor of Plasco, quoting one of his colleagues as saying: "On the morning of the incident, Kamabiz and I were together in the shop. I took the checks and wanted to leave the building. The last time I saw Kamabiz was in front of the elevator on the 14th floor. I told him I was leaving and to take care of himself. That was our last meeting. Until I reached the Istanbul intersection at 8, I was informed that the building was on fire. I called him and told him to get out of the building as soon as possible. He said the elevators were broken and the stairways were blocked, and if they put out the fire quickly and opened the ways, he would come out." A relative of this victim of the Plasco fire also told Etemad: "Identifying Kamabiz's body took a long time. We knew the body was in the forensic department, but we did not know if it belonged to Kamabiz or not. A few days ago, we went to the forensic department to identify his body. The body was intact but unrecognizable due to burns," but finally, "they gave us the definite news of his death."