Jahangiri's 'Silence Strategy'

The newspaper Etemad, in its front page titled 'Silence Strategy', discusses 'recent rumors about the diminishing role of Eshaq Jahangiri in the government'. It states: 'Perhaps before the start of the electoral debates, few would have imagined that Jahangiri would stand where Hassan Rouhani stood in June 2013' and act in such a way during the electoral debates that 'some would speak of 'until 1408 with Jahangiri' in cyberspace. However, now, several months into the operation of the twelfth government, 'Jahangiri, as prominent as he is in the government's public face, seems to be facing numerous adversities in its private sphere.' According to this newspaper, although Eshaq Jahangiri remains in the position of first vice president, a series of events within the government have led him to continue his silence in front of the government this time. It was expected that Jahangiri, due to the key and complementary role he played in the elections, would have a more effective role in cabinet formation, but 'the president's decisions had the least in common with the list of the first vice president, especially in the economic ministries, and his economic proposals for the cabinet were ignored.' Even 'despite the fact that in the eleventh government, the management of the economic team was under the first vice president, this time a new position was created for Mohammad Nahavandian to be the economic vice president of the president in the twelfth government.' Reports from the presidential office indicated that Jahangiri's voice was not even heard regarding the weaknesses of the government's media team. Etemad notes that 'before the three-month mark of Rouhani's government, Jahangiri's brother was arrested in Kerman and accused of financial misconduct.' It states: 'Throughout these four years, whenever Jahangiri has been at the center of rumors, he has passed through it with silence. This time, his strategy is the same silence. His personal documents folder may once again be needed in the spring of 1400, but 'this time there will be no withdrawal. This can be inferred from the lineage of Eshaq Jahangiri's political behavior.' Several figures close to the reformist faction also supported Jahangiri's record in Etemad's Sunday issue and emphasized the necessity of his remaining in the position of first vice president. For instance, Hamidreza Jalai Pour, in a note in this newspaper, referred to Eshaq Jahangiri as 'a key figure in the cabinet' and 'a trusted figure of Mohammad Khatami', stating: 'Mr. Rouhani's government has a social backing. This social backing is not exclusively and exclusively at his disposal, but the supporting currents of the government, especially the reformists, have provided this social capital to him with the support of their elders and elites in recent years.' However, 'this social capital does not become liquid (in the present) by itself, but figures like Mr. Jahangiri in the government are the ones who liquidate this social capital.' Meanwhile, the newspaper Qanoon published an interview with Mohammad Kianoush Rad, a former parliament representative and a figure close to the reformist faction, stating: 'One cannot expect a fully reformist government from Rouhani's administration, but one can ask this government not to create obstacles against the activities of the reformist current and other currents.' 'Undoubtedly, Rouhani has provided the groundwork for the reformists to operate again.' Mohammad Kianoush Rad emphasized that 'the demands, programs, and policies that the reformists have go beyond the current government, and we knew during the previous period and during the elections that Rouhani's government could not fulfill part of the reformists' demands.' He told Qanoon: 'Perhaps if the reformists also took power today, they could not take a step beyond what Mr. Rouhani has done so far. As reformists, we must present our ideals and demands and take steps to stabilize the political situation and prepare ourselves for competition with the banner and flag of reformism, but political activists and elites should move towards instructions and proposals that are achievable in today's Iranian society.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, accused several charities of attempting to counter the Islamic Republic, stating: 'It is true that institutions like Mahak provide services to patients and the needy, but more important and broader than this service is their very soft and calculated movement against the Islamic Republic.' This newspaper, referring to the sale of a new album by Iranian singer Mansour, residing in the USA, for the benefit of the Mahak charity helping cancer patients, wrote: 'Previously, extensive articles had been written in the media about the activities of charities like Mahak and their small and large movements against the regime, but the fact that anti-regime Los Angeles residents are collecting money for Mahak through a Telegram show channel is genuinely new; a case that indicates the calculated infiltration of charities that, under the guise of treatment and helping the needy, are openly and practically working against the regime, and apparently, no one is stopping them.' This newspaper close to the Revolutionary Guards emphasized that 'examining the internal structure, the individuals involved, and the managers of the Mahak institution and some other similar charities raises numerous concerns; concerns that make the necessity of a serious and decisive response from the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, as the main charity institution in the country, even more pronounced regarding the crisis of satellite charities. It is evident that the responsibility for the calculated actions of these satellite charities, to the extent defined by law, is also shared with the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation. If there are legal weaknesses and deficiencies in this regard, necessary laws must be promptly corrected and drafted.' The Javan newspaper called for legal action against charities like Mahak and wrote: 'The prosecutor, as the public prosecutor, must intervene in the extensive violations of these institutions that, by subsisting from abroad, are engaged in activities against Iran, and by identifying and questioning their leaders, prevent the broader spread of their apparent and hidden corruptions.' The newspaper Shargh reported on the commutation of the death sentences of Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi, partners of Babak Zanjani, stating: 'On Saturday, two news agencies, Fars and Tasnim, reported that the death sentences of the second and third defendants in the corruption case were changed to life imprisonment by Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. Fars wrote that based on received news, Judge Mogheiseh did not find the two accomplices of Zanjani deserving of execution, and Tasnim also announced that Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi, who had previously been sentenced to death but whose sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court, were sentenced to imprisonment by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.' This newspaper recalled that the first trial of 'the oil corruption case in 2015 was held in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court under the chairmanship of Judge Abolqasem Salavati, and in this court, Babak Zanjani and the second and third defendants of this case were sentenced to death based on the issued indictment for corruption on earth through disrupting the country's economic system by forming and leading an organized group to commit crimes such as forgery, money laundering with knowledge of its effectiveness in harming the country, etc., but the Supreme Court confirmed Babak Zanjani's death sentence and overturned the sentences of Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi, referring the case for review to a parallel branch.' The Etemad newspaper also published a report on this matter, stating: 'Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi, the second and third defendants in the oil case, were luckier than Babak Zanjani, whose fate was determined differently, and Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court, which took over the case after the Supreme Court overturned the death sentences of the two accomplices of the first defendant in the oil corruption case, determined that these two were not corrupt on earth.' This newspaper pointed out that 'Mehdi Shamszadeh, the second defendant in the oil case, holds a PhD in economics' and has dual Iranian-British citizenship. His charges in this case 'according to the indictment included: corruption on earth in disrupting the economic system, participation in a 1.2 billion euro fraud, as well as money laundering and participation in the proceeds of crime amounting to 1.2 billion euros and money laundering and participation in the proceeds of fraud from the Niko company amounting to 767.5 million euros.' According to Etemad, 'Hamid Fallah Heravi, the third defendant in the oil case, has a 30-year service record in one of the security institutions of the Islamic Republic' and is 'referred to as Zanjani's introducer to the Ministry of Oil.' His charges listed in the indictment included corruption on earth through participation in disrupting the economic system with knowledge of harming the system and deliberate participation in forgery, using money laundering and fraud; participation in fraud against the Social Security Organization amounting to 444 billion Japanese yen and the HK oil company amounting to 1.1 billion euros; participation in money laundering amounting to 148 billion and 136 million rials through the ownership of proceeds from crime.' The newspaper Iran in its Sunday issue has a report about the 'kolbari' (portering) of teenagers aged thirteen to sixteen in cities like Sardasht, stating: 'Many of them do it out of necessity, while some do it out of preference, but kolbari is not simple, and in this context, when you see a teenager leaving school for a meager amount and ending up in the mountains and perilous paths to earn some money, it is more distressing. Isn't it true that it won't be long before their backs, shoulders, and joints wear out much sooner than they think, and they will have to carry an unhealthy body with them for the rest of their lives?' This newspaper published interviews with three kolbars named 'Zhivan', sixteen years old, 'Hooraman', thirteen years old, and 'Araz', fifteen years old, stating: Zhivan 'is forced by his father' to do kolbari, while some of these teenagers, like Araz, 'sacrifice themselves to give life to a simple life. He is fifteen years old and loves studying, but to be able to stand on his own feet, he is striving to help with family expenses.' The newspaper Iran quoted thirteen-year-old Hooraman as saying that last winter his father, who was engaged in kolbari, 'became seriously ill and could no longer carry loads. Therefore, he sold the house and life and bought ten horses to transport loads in the spring. He went to the mountains a few times and returned safely, bringing good money home, but the last time he brought a load from the border, the agents shot at each of the horses, and then he himself was shot so that my mother, younger sister, and I would be left alone forever.' This thirteen-year-old told the newspaper Iran: 'I couldn't bear to see my mother needing help from others, so two months after my father's death, I decided to continue his work, and now I have been carrying loads for nearly five months to help my mother with living expenses and to get my sister out of trouble.' The newspaper Iran, close to the government, reported that 'the Guardian Council has rejected the debate on the case of Sepanta Niknam', while 'recently, a range of principlists have also joined the critics of the suspension of the Zoroastrian member of Yazd City Council.' According to this newspaper, the passage of time has not only removed the issue of Sepanta Niknam's membership cancellation from relevance but seems to have intensified the fervor around it. However, Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, defended the council's action on Saturday and, in response to Majid Ansari's proposal for a debate with the Guardian Council members on this issue, said: 'This issue is not something that we can sit down and debate with the parliament. Such cases are not debatable because they are expert, jurisprudential, and legal opinions.' Mohammad Reza Zaeri, a cleric close to the principlist faction, in a note in the newspaper Iran titled 'Do Not Destroy Assets', referred to the 'decision of the Guardian Council that resulted in the cancellation of the membership of a Zoroastrian member of Yazd City Council, a person elected by direct vote of the people and who, incidentally, had also been a member of the same council in the previous term.' He wrote: 'What is of concern is the costs that such decisions create for the Islamic Republic system. It is not unreasonable to say that people do not accept the costs of these methods. If the Islamic Republic were the family estate of some respected officials, they would not have the right to destroy it for any reason.' The newspaper Iran also published parts of a letter from Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Tenth Parliament, in which he asked the members of the Guardian Council 'to pursue the amendment of laws through the parliament and government if they deem laws to be un-Islamic, rather than issuing decrees that, according to the Deputy Speaker, 'disrupt the economic, cultural, and political discipline of the country.' Ali Motahari also wrote in his letter: 'This way of acting by the jurists of the Guardian Council, who say that whenever we feel that a law is contrary to Islamic law, we will announce it and that law will lose its validity, and anyone who protests is against the system, does not seem reasonable. According to this approach, every morning when we wake up, we must see what laws have been rejected by the Guardian Council.' The newspaper also reported that 'the Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom Seminary', an organization of clerics close to the reformist faction, issued a statement regarding the legitimacy of the presence of non-Muslims in city and village councils, referring to the 'rule of negation of superiority' that the Guardian Council cited for the cancellation of Sepanta Niknam's membership in Yazd City Council.