Increase in Unemployment, Expansion of Poverty

The newspaper Jahan San'at in its front page on Tuesday titled "Increase in Unemployment, Expansion of Poverty" writes: "The greatest economic achievement of the current government is controlling inflation and restraining it over recent years, which has alleviated the negative psychological burden of the 40 percent inflation of the tenth government from the shoulders of the people. Additionally, the efforts of Rouhani's cabinet to open up and increase trade relations have positively impacted economic growth. However, it should be noted whether this achieved growth indicates a more dynamic and progressive economy for the people of the country or merely numbers on paper for the propaganda maneuvers of the country's economic officials." Mohammad Gholi Yousefi, a faculty member at Allameh Tabatabai University, told this newspaper: "Economic growth is not generally significant in economic discussions. In fact, the rate of economic growth alongside the inflation rate are two meaningless variables and merely political tools in the hands of the government that do not hold special importance for the people." For example, in Iran, "despite economic growth, our industry has collapsed, unemployment has increased, and poverty has expanded." The funeral of firefighters killed in the Plasco building fire is one of the main headlines in Iranian newspapers, and among them, the newspaper Etemad dedicated a photo with the headline "The City Weeps Goodbye to You" to this ceremony, writing: "Hundreds of thousands of grieving people mourned the bodies of the heroic firefighters." This newspaper describes the atmosphere of the funeral for the 16 firefighters who lost their lives in the Plasco fire, stating that "advertisements have started outside the metro station. Specific organizations have printed posters and distributed them to the public. The black flags are donated by another organization. Some posters also show signs of appreciation and have the image of the martyrs along with the phrase 'Goodbye, Friend.' Some are also promoting the campaign to boycott Chaharshanbe Suri." Etemad refers to the treatment of citizens who held handwritten placards, stating: "On Tuesday during the funeral of the 16 firefighters, some made handwritten placards and raised them high. The content of most of these placards is a reminder to officials and a request for accountability. However, some individuals tear down the small placards held by the people, which have attracted more attention than other posters." The newspaper Arman in its front page wrote that "Ghalibaf, Ghalibaf Resign, Resign" was a slogan raised on Tuesday during the funeral of the firefighters. The newspaper Aftab Yazd dedicated its front page to this ceremony, referring to the fallen firefighters as "Defenders of the People". The newspaper Sobhe No, close to Tehran's mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, also published a full-page photo of this ceremony, describing the fallen firefighters as "Martyrs of Service." Sobhe No accused the media and critics of Tehran's mayor during the Plasco fire of "politicization" but simultaneously in its report on the funeral described the attendees in the "special seats" stating: "The front row, as always, is reserved for familiar faces. Faces that the camera lenses zoom in on. Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani and his brother Dr. Ali Larijani, heads of the legislative and judicial branches, are sitting here. The absence of the head of the executive branch is filled by the first vice president. The President is among the main absentees of this ceremony, as every year, he has attended the ceremony at the shrine of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, to participate in the government's Fajr decade ceremony. However, there are many familiar faces, from the mayor of Tehran to several members of the city council and from members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to military officials." The newspaper Shargh also dedicated its front page to "Passing the Buck with Plasco" and wrote: "The officials of 16 responsible agencies in the Plasco incident were guests of the Tenth Parliament's Urban Development Commission on Tuesday." According to Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, the vice president of the Hope faction, who spoke to this newspaper, "Points about the lack of firefighters' equipment were raised in this meeting, indicating that even considering the facilities of the Red Crescent Society in Iran, there are helicopters available for the number of provinces in Iran." Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, who was present at this meeting as a member of the Tenth Parliament's Urban Development Commission, stated: "The explanation provided by the Red Crescent Society showed that about 22 helicopters are available to this organization, and this point indicates that in the event of a crisis, we cannot provide adequate assistance. If a helicopter had arrived sooner to assist the firefighters at Plasco, perhaps the situation of rescue and firefighting would have changed." The newspaper Jomhouri Eslami quoted Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, stating: "The Iranian government's official reaction to the U.S. President's action to prevent Iranian citizens from entering this country will certainly be reciprocal, and Iran will refrain from issuing visas to American citizens wishing to travel to Iran and will support Iranian citizens worldwide using the tools at our disposal." The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote on its front page: "The U.S. State Department in a sensitive but unclassified note published on Tuesday stated that 'a few instances of recent terrorist attacks have been carried out by foreign citizens who entered the U.S. as immigrants or otherwise. In contrast, most of these attacks have been arranged by native or naturalized Americans who have lived in the U.S. for several decades.'" This newspaper quoted from this note: "Since the instances of terrorist attacks by citizens of countries such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Yemen who have entered the U.S. are nearly zero, the ban on the entry of these individuals into the U.S. will have little practical effect on enhancing public security." The newspaper Kayhan also described the content of "the phone call between the U.S. President and the King of Saudi Arabia" as "Trump's full defense of the JCPOA," writing that "Trump and King Salman emphasized the importance of the precise implementation of the JCPOA alongside countering Iran's destabilizing regional actions." Kayhan pointed out its opposition and that of aligned media to the JCPOA, stating that after the nuclear agreement, some senior officials of the eleventh government "claimed that the opponents of the JCPOA in the country have harmonized with Saudi Arabia and Israel and that the JCPOA created discord among Iran's enemies," but the statements of the U.S. President indicate that "Americans, whether Democrats or Republicans, know well that the JCPOA is a product of both parties and that they cannot reach a better agreement with Iran, as all their nuclear goals and intentions have been realized in the JCPOA without yielding any achievement for the other side, namely Iran." The newspaper Noavaran emphasized the "necessity of creating an all-encompassing movement to defend the rights of citizens of the country," writing: "Today, there is a need to create a movement to defend the dignity and status of Iranians to eliminate the idea that domestic extremists have caused to arise in the world." This newspaper noted the increasing "concern over the devaluation of the Iranian passport due to the negative frequencies of domestic extremist policies," stating: "Improving the credibility of the Iranian passport or any other country's passport in the global community is more a matter of the collective behaviors and internal policies of countries and the signals that emanate from them to the world." Noavaran reminded that "the election of Hassan Rouhani in the 2013 presidential election was largely due to the hopes of the people and civil activists regarding the improvement of conditions in various areas," and also wrote that "in 2012, the Iranian passport was one of the least credible passports in the world, ranking 96th among about 100 countries whose passport credibility was examined," stating that "the 2013 report indicated a slight improvement, with Iran rising to 86th place." However, this newspaper noted that "after the issuance of the new U.S. President's order banning the entry of citizens from seven Islamic countries into this country," there are many theories, but "the most important of them is the need to create a powerful movement to defend Iran and Iranians and restore dignity and credibility to the Iranian passport." The head of the Student Welfare Fund stated in an interview with the newspaper Shahrvand that "in some cities, female students drop out due to a lack of dormitories." Zolfaqar Yazdanmehr discussed the consequences of "the ban on dormitory construction in this fifth development plan," stating: "One of the impacts of this law on the admission of female students has been that many parents, after their daughter is accepted into university, definitely check the dormitory issue, and many girls have dropped out over the years due to the lack of suitable dormitories or have withdrawn from public universities to attend free or Payam Noor universities in their city." The head of the "Student Welfare Fund," who is among the senior officials of the Ministry of Science, expressed regret that "the ban on dormitory construction in the fifth plan has led to a shortage of 400,000 square meters of dormitory space," stating that there is a shortage of dormitories for 75,000 students, although "compared to standard conditions," there is a shortage of 50,000 dormitories. "Currently, we have 116 public and private dormitories and 320 non-governmental dormitories, and according to our plan, we have about 300 dormitories short of reaching standard conditions, which includes a student community of 75,000."