How Much Does Each Seat in the Majlis Cost?

The newspaper Arman has reported on its front page about the "Protests of over 5,000 Parliamentary Candidates" regarding their disqualifications. The newspaper Shargh also highlighted on its front page that "Candidates Await" as it noted: "With 9 days left until the final deadline, it has been announced that 'five thousand individuals who volunteered to represent the Majlis have requested reconsideration after being disqualified or marked as unqualified by the Guardian Council's supervisory boards.'" Shargh pointed out that "February 4 is the day the Guardian Council is set to announce the final results" of the complaints from candidates of the tenth Majlis elections, stating: "It seems that a significant portion of these five thousand individuals are reformists; meanwhile, Hossein Marashi, a member of the reformists' electoral policy council, has said that only 30 reformists have been approved nationwide." The newspaper Kayhan, however, described the "elimination of reformists from the competition" as a "big lie" in its Tuesday front page, writing: "While reformists claimed that no one was left to compete and everyone had been disqualified, news has emerged that their lists for the tenth Majlis elections are being finalized." The newspaper Vaghaye Etefaghieh reported on a new tactic of reformists and moderates in the elections under the title "Hidden Coalition," quoting Gholamali Dehghan, a senior member of the Moderation and Development Party, who stated: "This is our only escape route." According to this newspaper, "Reports indicate the formation of a secret coalition among the three sides: reformists, principlists, and moderates; a coalition that seems to be a product of the conditions following the disqualifications and has previously been facilitated by the Moderation and Development Party." Gholamali Dehghan commented on the moderates' approach in the elections on March 7, stating: "Over the past two and a half years, a specific alignment and convergence has emerged among certain intellectual and political currents, with the turning point being June 14, 2013, when reformists and moderates reached an unwritten and invisible yet practical coalition," and they believe that in "the events leading to the approval of the JCPOA in the Majlis and the specific discussions of the principlist faction in the ninth Majlis, a third side was effectively added to it." The newspaper Iran also reported on "whispers of a joint list among the supporters of the government," stating: "The sound of a joint list of the coalition of reformist, moderate, and independent currents is being heard. Initially, the disqualifications shocked political currents to the extent that most non-principlist organizations announced that under these conditions, they could not present a complete list. However, now, despite the difficult conditions, they are considering a new solution." "How Much Does Each Seat in the Majlis Cost?" is the title of a report in the newspaper Hamdeli, where some advertising consultants noted that the minimum cost for each candidate in the Majlis elections in Tehran is between 150 to 200 million tomans, stating that advertising in the Majlis elections is "like investing in a factory." Economist Mehdi Pazouki told this newspaper that the salary of a Majlis representative over a four-year term is approximately 500 million tomans, but some candidates spend more than two billion tomans in a small electoral district, which is not economical and indicates that these candidates are seeking rent. The newspaper Iran, close to the government, dedicated its front page to the "official reception" of the Islamic Republic's President in Italy, quoting Hassan Rouhani as saying: "The will of Tehran and Rome is to expand cooperation further in the post-JCPOA environment." Ali Khorram, in a note in the newspaper Etemad, evaluated Hassan Rouhani's trip to Europe as the "end of political sanctions," stating: "After the nuclear agreement between Iran and the 1+5 countries, we have witnessed the effects and results in the shortest time. These effects, although more apparent in the lifting of economic sanctions, have primarily reached the lifting of political sanctions." The author of the note in Etemad emphasized that "in the ten years between 2005 and 2015, Iran was politically sanctioned under Article 41 of the UN Charter before facing economic sanctions." Etemad also highlighted on its front page "Waiting for the Experts' Approval," stating that "the Guardian Council's work for reviewing the qualifications of candidates for the fifth Majlis Experts election ended on Tuesday. With the announcement of the opinions of six jurists of the Guardian Council regarding the qualifications of candidates, it will be determined how many of the 818 candidates will remain in the competition." The newspaper Hamdeli reported on its Tuesday front page about "Rouhani's letter to Obama and the leaders of the five world powers," stating that Hassan Rouhani announced on his personal Twitter page the sending of a letter to the leaders of the U.S. and other 1+5 countries before starting his trip to Italy, the Vatican, and France. According to this newspaper, the Islamic Republic's President expressed happiness in this letter about "the efforts to reach a nuclear agreement and hope for the timely implementation of commitments and necessary actions based on the JCPOA," while simultaneously emphasizing in a letter to the leaders of neighboring countries the "hope for efforts to utilize post-JCPOA opportunities and capacities for cooperation in various fields." The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted Mohsen Faqihi, a member of the Teachers' Society of Qom Seminary, reporting on "this religious institution's decision to officially warn the President, emphasizing that Mr. Rouhani must compensate for his statements." While Hassan Rouhani had emphasized that "the qualifications belong to the people," the newspaper Javan quoted Mohsen Faqihi as stating: "In the matter of elections, its execution is in the hands of the government and its supervision is the responsibility of the Guardian Council, and supervision means that if the Guardian Council feels that a violation has occurred, it can intervene, but if it has no authority, this supervision is useless." The newspaper Resalat reported, quoting Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the Deputy Speaker of the Majlis, about "the impossibility of reviewing the 2016 budget and the sixth plan by the end of the year," stating: "The government should present a two-twelfths or three-twelfths budget bill to the Majlis." The newspaper Farhikhtegan reported on "the kidnapping of a one-day-old baby in a hospital," stating that more than six months have passed since this baby was kidnapped from a hospital in Tehran's Rah Ahan Square, but "the smallest clue about the perpetrators of the baby theft has not been obtained." The newspaper Mardomsalari focused on the "formation of a security headquarters for the elections," quoting Iskandar Momeni, the deputy commander of the police force, stating: "250,000 officers will be present to ensure election security." The newspaper Hemayat, affiliated with the prison organization and correctional measures, published the statements of Sadegh Larijani at the anniversary of the events of February 6, 1981, in Amol, quoting the head of the judiciary as saying: "The enemy targets the faith of the people by promoting secularism." Sadegh Larijani emphasized that "Islamic Iran is one of the most influential countries in the world," stating: "Spending millions of dollars to launch Persian-language satellite channels by enemies is aimed at corrupting our youth and undermining the power and faith of our people." The newspaper Arman has a report on the increasing age of marriage in the capital, reporting that findings from researchers in the social and cultural affairs department of region six indicate that the average age of marriage in this region of the capital is "between 35 and 40 years."