Mohammad Reza Bahonar: Sanctions and Nuclear Issues Cannot Be Resolved by Referendum

In an interview with the newspaper Qanoon, Mohammad Reza Bahonar emphasized that "sanctions and nuclear issues cannot be resolved by referendum," describing any referendum on foreign policy as "foolish." Regarding the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard, he stated: "They are not willing to start a news site or issue statements after their release," and added, "Given this situation, they should remain under house arrest." The newspaper Shahrvand reported that the Central Bank Governor announced that "daily currency prices" will be handed over to the "Association of Currency Exchange Dealers" starting next week. The newspaper Etelaat also noted that on Tuesday, February 7, it examined the "ups and downs of the Central Bank's decisions" regarding the currency market, stating that Gholamali Kamiyab, the Central Bank's currency deputy, denied his earlier statements about dealing with currency brokers. The newspaper Etelaat characterized the remarks of Majid Ansari, the parliamentary deputy of Hassan Rouhani, as a "clear response from the government to the critics of the negotiations." It wrote: "The government’s patience has worn thin, as can be understood from Majid Ansari's remarks last night; remarks that may be among the most unprecedented reactions from the government against attacks on the foreign minister and nuclear negotiations. Until now, only the president had spoken so boldly against his foreign policy critics. However, now the government’s parliamentary deputy states clearly: the political reckoning is involved in the destruction of the nuclear negotiation team." The newspaper Ebtekar also headlined "Attacking the Government with the Dual Nationality Code," stating: "The parliamentary deputy of the president called the accusations against the cabinet lies and slander," particularly regarding the warnings from several representatives to the government against employing dual nationals, saying: "The basis of the warning is based on incorrect information and is a blatant accusation, as no one in the president's office or the presidency holds dual nationality." The newspaper Arman published a report titled "Theft with Small Hands," stating: "Theft is the primary crime among children and adolescents." The newspaper Qanoon, in its Tuesday headline, titled "Confronting the Thief-Creating Economy," examined "ways to combat economic corruption" from the perspective of several experts and legal scholars, stating: "It can be said with confidence that the news of the large financial corruption case known as the 3,000 billion toman case was the last news of corruption that shocked public opinion," but with the publication of multiple cases of economic corruption, such news is no longer shocking to public opinion in Iran. The newspaper Shargh featured a photo and an interview with Claudia Roth, dedicating its front page to the Vice President of the German Parliament, who stated that "there are only a few steps left until an agreement is reached," and in Iran, "all hopes are pinned on Rouhani, and of course, I know that not all these hopes are nuclear or related to it; people are waiting for some kind of opening." The newspapers Ebtekar, Javan, Iran, and Jahan-e Eghtesad dedicated their front pages to the "Liberation of Kobani," while the newspapers Shahrvand, Siyasat-e Rooz, Shargh, Farhikhtegan, and Qanoon also published this news as one of their front-page headlines. The newspaper Khorasan headlined: "Kobani has been liberated." According to this newspaper, "The People's Protection Units of Syrian Kurdistan, along with the Peshmerga forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, have managed to completely take control of the city of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) in Syria by defeating ISIS militants." Khorasan quoted "Kurdish media sources" stating that on Tuesday, "the Kurds of Kobani were able to fully regain control of the city after three months of bloody clashes and push ISIS forces back to the eastern strip outside the urban area of Kobani." The newspaper Etelaat reported that on Tuesday, "Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, stated that there is no law for holding the Councilor elections, effectively deeming the holding of these elections illegal." The newspaper wrote: "These remarks by the Minister of Interior come just one month before the scheduled Councilor elections, and amidst serious disagreements among reformist and principlist members of the City Council regarding the timing of the elections, new challenges regarding the Councilor elections have emerged." The newspaper Iran, in its front page, examined the "7 trillion toman market of test preparation institutes" with several experts. This newspaper also reported: "The results of the Education Commission's investigations show that the financial turnover of test preparation institutes reaches about 7 trillion tomans annually, while the total financial turnover of the Ministry of Education, with 12 million students and one million teachers, is about 11 trillion tomans." The newspaper Iran quoted experts participating in its roundtable as saying: "The main problem is the unauthorized institutes that, with colorful and enticing advertisements, have complicated the educational system," while "their advertising base is also the state television, which, contrary to the law, engages in extensive advertising for their educational CDs and mock exams." Mohammad Reza Bahonar: Sanctions and nuclear issues cannot be resolved by referendum. In an interview with the newspaper Qanoon, Mohammad Reza Bahonar emphasized that "sanctions and nuclear issues cannot be resolved by referendum," describing any referendum on foreign policy as "foolish." Regarding the house arrest of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard, he stated: "They are not willing to start a news site or issue statements after their release," and added, "Given this situation, they should remain under house arrest." This principlist member of the ninth parliament and secretary-general of the "Front of Followers of Imam and Leader" described the mention of a referendum by Hassan Rouhani regarding "sanctions and nuclear issues" as "unusual," stating that "house arrest is not a referendum issue. This is very clear. When the Supreme National Security Council makes decisions regarding security issues, it is completely legal. Therefore, whenever it reaches a decision, it must be implemented." Mohammad Reza Bahonar explicitly emphasized the need for the continued house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, and although he did not name them, he said: "They are not willing to start a news site or issue statements after their release. They are not even satisfied with this and want to continue their past activities. Given this situation, they should remain under house arrest. Therefore, this issue cannot be resolved by referendum." According to the newspaper Qanoon, Mohammad Reza Bahonar also rejected the idea of a referendum on nuclear negotiations, stating: "On the other hand, some believe that a referendum should be held regarding nuclear negotiations. I believe it is a grave mistake to hold a referendum on foreign policy and specifically for the 1+5 negotiations. A referendum is the lightest and most harmful thing a country can do in foreign policy." The Deputy Speaker of the ninth parliament also stated: "Suppose we want to put our relationship with the United States to a vote. If it does not pass, the government will be constrained in nuclear negotiations. But if it passes, do you think the U.S. will easily leave Iran alone? This will incur significant costs for the regime. I believe holding a referendum on foreign policy is foolish. No country holds a referendum on strategic issues." Mohammad Reza Bahonar emphasized that "it seems the government has a dual behavior; one day it says we should not seek political opinions from taxi drivers, but another day it talks about a referendum," and told the newspaper Qanoon: "If I want to look at the issue of the referendum with goodwill, I see the only reason for raising this issue is the government's economic problems and that it wants to change the playing field for a while." According to the newspaper Qanoon, Mohammad Reza Bahonar also commented on Mohammad Khatami, saying: "The stamp of reformism is on his forehead, and he himself accepts this. However, I believe Mr. Khatami should also make amends regarding the events of 2009. He did not participate as much as he should have in this process. Khatami should have intervened and put them in their place. However, some claim that he sometimes incited the leaders of the sedition, but I do not want to make such a claim." The transfer of "announcing currency prices" to the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers from next week. The newspaper Shahrvand reported that the Central Bank Governor announced that "the daily currency price announcement" will be entrusted to the "Association of Currency Exchange Dealers" starting next week. According to this newspaper, Valiollah Seif, the Central Bank Governor, stated on Tuesday at the "Electronic Banking Conference": "The new currency regulations for exchange dealers have had a positive impact on the market, but have not been fully implemented. The groundwork has been laid, and rates will be announced by this association starting next week; however, full implementation of the regulations governing currency exchange dealers will require two to three weeks." This newspaper also reported that Gholamali Kamiyab, the Central Bank's currency deputy, emphasized that the "Association of Currency Exchange Dealers is not yet ready to determine currency rates." Gholamali Kamiyab stated that there is still not enough readiness to determine the average currency rate by the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers, saying that "this action will be carried out soon," adding that "the task of collecting currency brokers from the market is the responsibility of the Central Bank, which is only obligated to enact regulations." The newspaper Etelaat also noted in its February 7 issue that it examined the "ups and downs of the Central Bank's decisions" regarding the currency market, stating that Gholamali Kamiyab denied his earlier statements about dealing with currency brokers on the first Friday of February. This newspaper recalled that on the first Friday of February, the Central Bank's currency deputy described currency brokering as a type of violation that could be addressed under the Central Bank's legal resolution, mentioning brokers who shout in the Afshar passage, falsely trading $100,000, and stated that "the new directive would render these brokers criminally liable and officially declared that dealing with these brokers would be legal. He stated that no one can commit a crime in public, and in the currency market, no one can set rates and sell currency, addressing the issue by saying: "Therefore, individuals should not operate in the currency market in this manner." The newspaper Etelaat wrote that "dealing with currency brokers" was suddenly denied by Gholamali Kamiyab within a few days, and the Central Bank's currency deputy stated on Tuesday that "this bank is not responsible for collecting currency brokers from the market," saying: "The Central Bank is only obligated to announce regulations; however, the necessary coordination for collecting currency brokers from the market is underway, but this will take time until the currency market stabilizes." Gholamali Kamiyab also stated regarding the "non-announcement of currency rates by the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers" that "this association is currently not adequately prepared," and "the announcement of currency rates by the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers requires the necessary systemic readiness of this association to be able to announce currency rates, and of course, this rate will be announced by the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers in the near future." According to the newspaper Etelaat, based on the "directive of the Central Bank's currency deputy," the determination of currency prices will be entrusted to the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers, which will "determine and announce the weighted average currency rates based on actual transactions." This newspaper quoted Gholamali Kamiyab, the Central Bank's currency deputy, stating that if the determination of currency prices by the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers is implemented in the near future, "exchange dealers will register their transaction information in the Sena system, and the Central Bank will provide the volume and rates of transactions to the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers for determining the daily currency rate; however, only the rate and volume will be provided, not the names of the dealers and individuals," and the Association of Currency Exchange Dealers is "obligated to calculate and announce the weighted average buying and selling rates of the dealers every hour within the time frame specified in Article 4 of these regulations, and the announced rates will be the weighted average of transactions conducted in one hour and will not include total daily transactions." Theft with small hands; theft ranks first among juvenile delinquency. The newspaper Arman published a report titled "Theft with Small Hands," stating: "Theft is the primary crime among children and adolescents." This newspaper, referencing the increase in juvenile delinquency, especially in Tehran, quoted Mohammad Zahedi Asl, a social harm expert, stating: "Poverty, divorce, family disarray, illiteracy, and lack of culture create conditions in which either the child thinks of committing a crime, or even the family forces them to commit it for survival." Saba Al-Sadat Hosseini, in a report for the newspaper Arman, noted that "social harm experts warn that in recent decades, juvenile crimes have increased," recalling that Asghar Jahangir, the head of the Prisons and Educational Measures Organization, "last week stated regarding juvenile crimes and their types in the country: Given that theft is the highest crime among children and adolescents, and most of these thefts are often petty and small, this indicates the combined educational and economic needs in this sector." This newspaper quoted the head of the Prisons Organization as describing the increase in "crimes committed by children as a warning sign for society," stating: "Many crimes in the juvenile sector are due to economic problems, and to prevent juvenile crime, relevant institutions must fulfill their social responsibilities appropriately." According to this newspaper, "statistics on the number of juvenile offenders, the types of crimes, and their frequency among Tehran's children and adolescents indicate that 80% of girls referred to the correction and rehabilitation center are involved in illicit relationships and running away from home," while the most common crimes among boys are "theft and fighting." The newspaper Arman referenced statements made a few months ago by Ali Rostami, the director of the correctional and rehabilitation center.