Khatami: Reforms Aim to Strengthen the System

The newspaper Etemad reported on a "conference of the concerned" held a day before the nuclear negotiations began in Vienna, stating: "One day before the start of the nuclear negotiations," the "concerned" held a conference titled "Minus Dignity Plus Sanctions" in Tehran. The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, published a report about the conference on the "Population Outlook of Iran," quoting speakers from the event stating: "A network of 300,000 is active against population growth in Iran." The newspaper Shahre Vandan reported on the "increase in tolls for 8 highways," stating that the toll rates for the two state highways "Tehran-Qom" and "Tehran-Qazvin" have doubled. The newspaper Arman reported on the "formation of a council of elders," stating that Ali Larijani and Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri "intend to create a consultative council that includes elders from various factions to take a cross-factional action and cooperate with the government to bring peace to society." Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications in Hassan Rouhani's government, also stated in an interview with Arman that while he emphasized that "knowing is the right of the people," he said: "A smart filtering plan will be ready within a month." The newspaper Shargh quoted Mohammad Khatami as saying: "The ground for the enthusiastic participation of the people in elections should be prepared." The newspaper Ebtekar also published a photo of Mohammad Khatami on its front page, quoting him as saying: "Reforms aim to strengthen the system." The newspaper Ebtekar described the confidence vote session for the fourth proposed Minister of Science in the eleventh government as "tug-of-war in Baharestan," stating: "It seems that some of the concerned and critics of the government want this game to continue and for the matter to extend to the sixth session or even longer." Alireza Salimi, a representative from Mahalat in the ninth parliament, wrote in a note in the newspaper Vatan-e Emruz, emphasizing what he called "marginalization in the Ministry of Science, diverting minds from the results of negotiations," stating: "Some may seek to divert minds from the very important issues occurring at the end of the nuclear negotiations with pointless marginalizations" or that "they want to instill the notion in the minds of the people and society that they do not allow us to operate and, so to speak, do not let us work." The newspaper Jahan San'at published a report on the statements of Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, stating: "Although the president announced two months ago with joy that we have passed the recession, yesterday the head of the Central Bank reported signs of emerging from the recession and believes that chronic recession must be gradually resolved." The newspaper Jahan San'at also reported the death of Majid Bahrami, a theater and cinema actor, stating: "The body of Majid Bahrami, the theater and cinema artist, was surrounded by the City Theater on Tuesday morning, November 26, and then escorted to the Hall of Unity and subsequently to the Artists' Section of Behesht Zahra." The newspaper Aftab Yazd dedicated its front page photo to Masoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, referencing attacks from some conservative media against the Environmental Organization and asking: "Where were the air concerned during the previous government?" The newspapers Vazan Emruz and Resalat dedicated their front page photo and headline to Ali Khamenei's visit to the "Imam Ali Military University" and quoted him as saying: "The world counts on Iran's armed forces." The newspaper Kayhan criticized the acquittal of the newspaper Asman from the charges against it, stating: "Judge Mohammad Kashkooli, head of Branch 79 of the Tehran Criminal Court, merely sentenced the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Asman to pay a fine of 2 million tomans and ordered the re-publication of this newspaper, which is considered part of the chain publications." Kayhan wrote: "Apparently, the cost of explicit insults to the rulings of the Quran is a maximum of 2 million tomans." Mohammad Khatami: Reforms aim to strengthen the system. The newspaper Shargh quoted Mohammad Khatami as saying: "The ground for the enthusiastic participation of the people in elections should be prepared." The newspaper Ebtekar also published a photo of Mohammad Khatami on its front page, quoting him as saying: "Reforms aim to strengthen the system." According to the newspaper Shargh, Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, head of the Baran Foundation, posed the question: "Is the reformist movement a political current dependent on a few real or legal personalities that if it is eliminated or its privileges revoked, it will disappear?" He added: "The reformist movement is present in our society. Reformism adheres to religion but a reading of religion that is appropriate for our time, a religion that recognizes human rights, a religion that respects the rights and dignity of both men and women, and a religion that says the people's vote is valid and should be the basis for action; we defend this religion with all our being." Mr. Khatami added: "If reforms have something to say, it is for the purpose of strengthening this very system, and if God forbid there is a deviation, it should be corrected. Others want this system to fall; we say this system must exist, and of course necessary reforms must be accepted, otherwise many of the issues that are said to be the essence of the system will harm the system itself." The conference of the concerned a day before the negotiations; "Minus Dignity Plus Sanctions." The newspaper Etemad reported on the "conference of the concerned" held a day before the negotiations, stating: "A day before the start of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna, the 'concerned' held a conference titled 'Minus Dignity Plus Sanctions' in Tehran." According to this newspaper, "the concerned held a gathering a day before the nuclear negotiations to clarify their concerns regarding the new round of nuclear negotiations. The title of the conference was 'Minus Dignity Plus Sanctions.' A conference that was once again held by the Committee for the Protection of Iran's Interests to express the concerns of the nuclear negotiations." Etemad wrote that at this conference, "Hamid Rouhani, head of the History Research Foundation, Bahram Biranvand, Mehdi Koochakzadeh, Mansour Haqiqatpour, Ali Aghamohammadi, Javad Karimi Qodosi, Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, Fatemeh Alia, Zahra Tabibzadeh, Mahmoud Nabavian, Abolqasem Gerareh from the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and some other representatives, as well as Abolfazl Zohrevand, a former diplomat, Ahmad Rahdar, head of the Fattuh Research Institute, and Ibrahim Razaghi, an economist, were present." This newspaper reminded that "the new round of nuclear negotiations will begin on Tuesday in Vienna while critics of the government's nuclear policies still maintain their specific outlook and have no intention of backing down," and on Monday, at the conference "Minus Dignity Plus Sanctions," they again discussed the conditions that nuclear negotiators must adhere to and their expectations. Etemad reported that Hamid Rouhani, head of the History Research Foundation, said at the "conference of the concerned": "The insults that were directed at the Iranian nation during the negotiations were unprecedented in the past 35 years; our mission in this situation is insight, awareness, and presence in the scene, and we must not allow those who target our dignity to implement their sinister plans." According to this newspaper, Abolfazl Zohrevand, a former ambassador of Iran to Afghanistan, also stated at this conference: "Those who claim we are going to solve the issue with the big guy should be asked if there really is an issue, and we who have chanted 'Death to America' for 35 years, have we made a mistake? In negotiations, we either have to surrender or put the other side in a position of surrender or reach deterrent balances." The newspaper Javan: "A 300,000-strong network of enemies against population growth in Iran." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, published a report on the "Population Outlook of Iran" conference, quoting speakers from the event stating: "A network is active against population growth in Iran." This newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, wrote: "The statements of Hojjatoleslam Moharabi, deputy of the Khatam al-Anbiya Cultural Foundation, at the first national brainstorming session on the population outlook of Iran contained important information regarding the movements of opponents of the regime's policies in the population sector." According to the newspaper Javan, Hojjatoleslam Moharabi, deputy of the Khatam al-Anbiya Cultural Foundation, said at this session held on Tuesday: "The movement that was able to control the population in the country has a 300,000-strong network that is heavily involved in the issue of population control and has high income, thus this network is strongly opposed to population growth." This newspaper described the statements of the deputy of the Khatam al-Anbiya Cultural Foundation and other speakers at this conference as "containing information" sufficient to "convince policymakers and public opinion to adopt an increasing approach in the country's population developments." The newspaper Javan reported that Khalil Ali-Mohammadzadeh, head of the Health Committee of the Women and Family Council of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, also stated at the "Population Outlook of Iran" conference: "In 1989, the average number of children per family was at least 6.4 children, and now this maximum has dropped to 1.8, meaning it has decreased more than threefold, and we have a replacement level of 2.1 percent, meaning if we want to maintain our population in the long term, each family must have at least two children." Khalil Mohammadzadeh pointed out that "population control can reduce the population faster, but increasing it is harder, and there is not the same speed in population increase as there is in population control." He stated: "Regarding the young population and the aging issue, we must say that we are a developing country, and the population under 15 years in these countries should be at least 40 percent, while now it is 23 percent." According to the newspaper Javan, Khalil Mohammadzadeh, head of the Health Committee of the Women and Family Council of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, criticized the vasectomy committee in Iran, stating: "In 2009, one of the members of the vasectomy committee in Iran stated in an interview that if a couple has at least one child and they agree on vasectomy, the time for telephone consultation, scheduling, and performing the operation takes only 1.5 hours, and now if we want to limit vasectomy, thousands of stigmas will be attached to us, while France, which is the cradle of democracy, banned vasectomy until 1999, and after that, those who had at least two to four children were directed to the sperm bank upon referral and after four months of waiting, if assured, were subjected to this operation." This newspaper also reported that Hamid Javad Mahmoudi, head of the Population Studies Committee of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, also mentioned "urbanization, increasing marriage age, increasing education levels, especially among girls, and elevating the status of women" as some of the reasons for the decline in fertility rates in Iran in recent decades, stating that the issue of increasing Iran's population "has always faced Western propaganda and internal opponents of population growth in our country, and listing these reasons by this group is interpreted as the regime's opposition to the demands of society, to the extent that even domestic experts have developed a phobia about addressing these issues and have given up on managing the conditions and have relied on the gradual impact of warnings and public awareness. That is, the opposing group invests in advertising on the issue of the community's desired goals and demands in contrast to the regime's population policies." Reza Gholami, head of the Islamic Humanities Research Center Sadra, also stated at the "National Population Outlook Conference" that "population control policies in health centers are treason against the country" and that "many populous countries in the world, such as China, India, etc., not only correctly understand this reality but also use the population factor to change international equations in favor of their nation, but within these countries, their high population has become an important opportunity for economic growth and becoming an economic power in the region or the world, as the signs of this are now evident to fewer people." Tolls for 8 highways increased; doubling the tolls for two state highways. The newspaper Shahre Vandan reported on the "increase in tolls for 8 highways," stating that the toll rates for the two state highways "Tehran-Qom" and "Tehran-Qazvin" have doubled. According to this newspaper, "In the fifty-fourth meeting of the National Transportation Safety Commission" held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Abbas Akhoundi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, "the increase in tolls for 8 highways, the bill for increasing traffic fines, the uncensored publication of traffic accidents, and the proposal to revise the issuance of driver's licenses" were discussed, and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development "announced the increase in tolls for 6 private highways and two state highways." The newspaper Shahre Vandan named the two state highways Tehran-Qom and Tehran-Qazvin, as well as six private highways including the Qom-Kashan, Saveh-Hamedan, Qazvin-Rasht, Khorramabad-Pole Zal, Zanjan-Tabriz, and Ahvaz-Imam Port highways as the highways where driving tolls have increased. This newspaper quoted Abbas Akhoundi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, stating: "According to the decision of the Economic Council, the tolls for the two state highways Qom-Tehran and Karaj-Qazvin have doubled, and accordingly, the toll rates for passenger cars on these two highways have increased from 250 tomans to 500 tomans, and for pickups and minibuses from 500 to 1,000 tomans." The Minister of Roads and Urban Development also mentioned the increase in toll prices for private highways, stating: "After three years, the request to increase the tolls for roads constructed by the private sector was approved, and the increase in tolls for highways is proportional to the expenses incurred for their construction and maintenance, and there is no specific percentage for all highways," but since "one-third of the country's roads are in disrepair." He continued: "The government's budget alone...