Mohammad Yazdi: Rouhani Did Not Fall for the Enemy's Smile

The newspaper Jahan San'at has reported on the approval of "cutting subsidies for specific individuals" by the Joint Commission and stated that this commission approved during the review of the 2016 budget bill that the government must cut cash subsidies for merchants, members of faculty at public and private universities, doctors, judges, and also "all government employees whose monthly income exceeds three million tomans" as well as those whose tax in the current year "exceeds 15 million tomans" starting from July 2016. According to this newspaper, "all managers and board members of public and non-public companies and affiliated public non-governmental institutions" as well as all armed forces personnel earning more than 35 million tomans annually, and all retirees and judiciary employees with an annual income exceeding 35 million will be removed from the list of subsidy recipients. Jahan San'at emphasized that the resolution of the Joint Commission stated that "from the beginning of July, payment of subsidies to the specified groups will be considered as appropriation of public assets" and will be a crime. The newspaper Te'adol described the Joint Commission's action as "filters of the ninth parliament for screening subsidy recipients" and wrote: "The targeted subsidy law, which was initially promising for improving the living conditions of vulnerable groups, has now become one of the 'huge economic costs' after five years." This newspaper emphasized the necessity of reforming this law but noted that "reforming the targeted subsidy law requires addressing the existing weaknesses and ambiguities in the law." Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economy, in an interview with the newspaper Etemad, evaluated the economic performance of the eleventh government, stating that "our achievements were semi-miraculous, and sustaining them is the second miracle." The Minister of Economy also mentioned the government's economic goals for the coming year, stating: "Our target for next year is to achieve non-inflationary growth. Achieving a 5% growth and an inflation rate of 11.3% are our goals for 2016." The newspaper Aftab Yazd reported on the front page of its Wednesday issue about the holding of "the last session of the fourth round of the Assembly of Experts in a new atmosphere" and alongside the headline "When Looks Speak," published a photo of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani entering this session, where his gaze met that of Ahmad Jannati. The newspaper Etemad also printed a similar photo on its front page in a report titled "The Convergence of Rivals' Looks in the Experts Assembly," referring to the differences between the last session of the fourth Experts Assembly and previous sessions, noting that the main figures of this session were two people, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hassan Rouhani, whose every small movement was captured by cameras, while "the welcomes had become warmer," and even when Hashemi Rafsanjani, who "had secured the first vote in the capital in the recent elections," entered, the first three rows of the Assembly stood up before him. Mahshid Sotoudeh in her report for Etemad reminded that this term of the Experts Assembly had a "longer lifespan than the previous three terms, saw four presidents," and finally, on Tuesday, while its last session was held, according to the results of the elections on the seventh of Esfand, "many figures will no longer experience sitting on the red chairs of the old Assembly," and even Mohammad Yazdi, the president of this Assembly, after losing in the elections, will not repeat the experience of presiding over the Experts Assembly. The newspaper Shargh also referred to the presence of "those who stayed and those who left, under the roof of the last session of the fourth round" of the Experts Assembly, quoting Mohammad Yazdi as saying: "I did not receive votes and am not at your service." Some newspapers close to the principlists, however, reflected Yazdi's last remarks in their headlines. The newspaper Resalat quoted Mohammad Yazdi as saying: "Hassan Rouhani did not fall for the enemy's smile," and the newspaper Hemayat also quoted him stating: "Protecting the identity of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist is the most sensitive duty of the Experts." At the same time, the newspaper Arman, in a note titled "Why Hashemi Should Lead the Experts Assembly," wrote that a person with "more experience, more balanced, and sharp-eyed" should be elected as the head of the fifth Experts Assembly, who has a "high status among the people." Fazel Mousavi, a reformist political activist, in a note for the newspaper Arman emphasized that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani "has superiority over other elected members in terms of intellect and expediency," stating: "Choosing Ayatollah Hashemi as the future head of the Experts is closer to the reason and expediency of the country," while he also holds "special credibility and status among the traditional clergy." "In the end, we did not understand who 'M-S' is?" the front page of the newspaper Arman reflects the reaction of Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the ninth parliament, to the interjection of Moayed Hosseini Sadr regarding a mysterious figure in the Babak Zanjani case. This newspaper noted that the session on Tuesday was also "influenced by the death sentence issued for Babak Zanjani," reporting that Moayed Hosseini Sadr, during his interjection, emphasized that "corruption will not end with the execution of Babak Zanjani; we must find the root of corruption," stating: "Babak Zanjani said in court that 'Mim Sin' has not paid 5 billion dollars of oil money. Who is Mr. 'Mim-Sin' that "is rooted everywhere and connected to many, and we are coming to believe that he has infiltrated everywhere." The newspaper Arman quoted Moayed Hosseini Sadr as saying: "Dirty money even threatens our lives! Mr. President and Mr. Larijani, if you do not deal with people like 'Mim-Sin,' I fear the country will become mafia-like, and no fair elections will be held anymore." Mehrdad Hajati, a journalist and university professor, in a note for the newspaper Sharq about the "destruction project" wrote: "Once, nearly 27 years ago, Youssef Ali Mirshakkak published a note in a newspaper [Kayhan] titled 'Cafe-Dwelling Viet Congs' and likened writers and intellectuals to Viet Congs whose job was to complain and dwell in cafes; great figures such as Ahmad Shamlou, Hushang Golshiri, and others like them," although "at that time I did not know, but now I know that the destruction of prominent personalities has been a project, a project that continued in various forms until today, where in the electoral campaign, it has clawed at the faces of many." The writer of the newspaper Sharq described the controversial remarks of Nader Qazizadeh as containing "a plethora of destructive and out-of-norm words" targeting "the dignity and status of women, which comes from the mouth of a member of parliament and astonishes the audience." The writer of the newspaper Sharq recalled that "individuals of this kind" once told journalists, filmmakers, writers, poets, painters, and all intellectuals and thinkers to "be careful that any point from their speech and art is misinterpreted" and "foreigners use it as a pretext to destroy the system," writing: they "seem to have forgotten to tell themselves to be careful with their speech." The newspaper Iran, close to the government, reported quoting Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that "in recent days, various ballistic missiles with ranges of 2000 kilometers, 800 kilometers, 500 kilometers, and 300 kilometers have been launched, and a diverse range of Iranian missiles have roared." This newspaper quoted Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, emphasizing that "the authorities consider the enhancement of missile capabilities as a red line of the system and have a consensus on it" and "by holding the Valayat Power exercise, our enemies will understand that defensive power and national security are our red lines, and we are not willing to discuss it under any circumstances." The newspaper Siyasat Rooz also described the recent missile test as "a comprehensive missile action plan" and "a decisive response to those who impose sanctions on the defense industry." Yadollah Javani, the former head of the political office of the IRGC and a senior commander of this force, in a note for the newspaper Javan wrote: "The display of missile cities and the expansion of these cities up to 500 meters underground in many parts of Iran, along with missile silos and the accumulation of thousands of missiles with diverse capabilities in these cities, the presence of thousands of expert specialists in these cities with a jihadist spirit and Basij thought, and the readiness of these forces to fire in retaliation against any aggressor has significantly increased the credibility of the defensive power and military deterrence of the Islamic Republic." The writer of the newspaper Javan emphasized that "now the Islamic Iran, after the United States, Russia, and China, is the fourth country with underground facilities for launching ballistic missiles," pointing out the difference between the "nuclear program" and the "missile program," writing: "The most important difference between these two programs relates to the negotiability of the nuclear program and the non-negotiability of the missile program and other military defense tools" and "the message of the Valayat Power exercise is to convey this message and meaning to all enemies."