Monetization of Traffic on Tehran's Highways Begins

Most Iranian newspapers have focused on the remarks made by Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, on Saturday. The Iran newspaper described the statements of the eleventh government leader as a "warning from Rouhani to nuclear excuse-makers." According to this newspaper, Rouhani, in a strong criticism of the excuses made by opponents of nuclear negotiations, stated: "Some inside are cheering for the opponent." The Arman newspaper dedicated its front page to Rouhani, quoting him as saying: "Criticism is not booing," while the Etemad newspaper reported: "The attack on negotiators has brought the voice of the president out." The newspaper noted that at the beginning of the week, when the foreign minister was to answer critics in parliament, Rouhani said: "Now they may criticize and say he walked fast or slow, his coat was crooked, or his glasses were in a certain way. These are not valid criticisms. We trust our brave diplomats." The Sharq newspaper also described Rouhani's response to critics of Zarif as a "strong support from the president for the minister." Kayhan wrote on its front page about the remarks of the eleventh government leader: "Rouhani again criticized government critics," while the Siyasat-e-Rooz newspaper published Rouhani's words under the headline "Did you see it on the lantern?" In response to the president's remarks, the Siyasat-e-Rooz newspaper wrote: "Did the critics really criticize Mr. Zarif's and John Kerry's walking pace, or did they not like the minister's crooked coat or the frame of his glasses? Is the problem that they walked fast or slow? Certainly, the critics' problem with that inappropriate walk is something beyond what the president says. The critics' problem is with the passive behavior of our diplomatic apparatus, which apparently considers all Western powers as the village chief and lacks the courage to respond to them." The Jahan-e-Sanat newspaper reported on its front page about experts' warnings regarding a "second wave of inflation," stating: "The Central Bank has recently converted $2.1 billion of blocked currency from crude oil sales into rials and provided it to the government, which means creating unsupported money in the country." The Javan newspaper also reported on its front page about "printing 50 trillion tomans backed by blocked dollars" and quoted Shamseddin Hosseini, the former Minister of Economy, as saying: "The government's financing for the 4.1 billion dollars of oil sold has increased the monetary base by 10 trillion tomans and liquidity by 50 trillion tomans." The Kayhan newspaper, in its Sunday issue, published an article about "examining methods of dealing with false newsmakers and media rumor spreaders in religious teachings," emphasizing that "false and baseless news and rumors are called nonsense," declaring them "mohdar al-dam" (worthy of death) and stating: "God says that whenever you reach these rumor-mongers, kill them." The Sharq newspaper reported that "the monetization of traffic in the tunnels and highways of the capital has begun." According to this newspaper, "Tehran Municipality intended to start collecting tolls from citizens' vehicles with the opening of the Sadr Bridge in December, but the toll collection file in tunnels and highways was closed due to opposition from city council members at that time; however, now it has been revived with the review of an urgent bill that is set to be approved by February 3." The Sharq newspaper also examined details of the "budget bill for the mayor of Tehran," stating: "The municipality's budget has increased by 10 percent this year. According to this bill, the municipality's budget is estimated at 17 trillion and 460 million tomans, which includes about 5 trillion tomans in current expenditures, 8 trillion tomans in capital asset acquisition credits, and 3 trillion tomans in financial asset acquisition credits." Fatemeh Jamalpour, in a report for the Sharq newspaper about the salary set for Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf in this bill, wrote: "According to the budget bill, the salary of the mayor of Tehran is announced as 8 million tomans per year, meaning [Mohammad Baqer] Qalibaf receives about 660 thousand tomans monthly, roughly the salary of a basic worker," adding that "one of the city council members announced the mayor's salary as 30 million tomans per month. The budget bill also states that 88 million tomans are allocated as the mayor's benefits." The Shahrevand newspaper reported on its front page that "every year, 2 million and 190 thousand tons of urban and rural waste are abandoned in the northern country," publishing a report about "20 years of fruitless efforts to remove waste from the northern forests." This newspaper wrote: "The waste has become a tool and has attacked the northern forests. For several years, whenever the bitter times of the northern forests are mentioned, the issue of waste also comes up as one of the main culprits for the drying and destruction of the northern forests of the country. Annually, more than 2 million and 190 thousand tons of urban and rural waste are abandoned or buried in the northern forests of the country. Thousands of tons of waste produce thousands of cubic meters of leachate, which, in addition to destroying the vegetation cover of the northern forests of the country, pollutes the water and soil of these areas." Experts have warned about a "second wave of inflation." The Jahan-e-Sanat newspaper reported on its front page about experts' warnings regarding a "second wave of inflation," stating: "The Central Bank has recently converted $2.1 billion of blocked currency from crude oil sales into rials and provided it to the government, which means creating unsupported money in the country." This newspaper published the warnings of Mohammad Gholi Yousofi, a faculty member of Allameh Tabatabai University, and Hossein Raghfar, a faculty member of Alzahra University, emphasizing that converting the $2.1 billion of blocked currency into rials "will lead to an increase in the monetary base and inflation rate." Hossein Raghfar stated regarding the consequences of converting blocked currencies into rials in Iran: "This money that has not yet entered will be converted into rials; therefore, this action is practically equivalent to printing money, and certainly, printing money that has not yet been secured will lead to inflation and an increase in the monetary base." This economic expert also said: "This action is very dangerous and contradicts the basic principles of economics," adding that one of its consequences is that "the growth of the monetary base and liquidity, due to supply-side problems in Iran's economy, mainly leads to an increase in the general price level instead of directing it to the production sector." Jahan-e-Sanat quoted Hossein Raghfar as saying: "Printing money will increase inflation at the national level," and "naturally, a government that has very serious problems, including bringing currency into the country and lacks sufficient resources to fulfill its daily commitments, should not have taken this action." This newspaper also quoted Mohammad Gholi Yousofi, a faculty member of Allameh Tabatabai University, stating: "First, it should be seen in which sector the government intends to spend this amount; if it is again spent in inflationary sectors such as commerce, services, and intermediation, and does not pay attention to production, industry, and agriculture, the situation will not change." The Jahan-e-Sanat newspaper reminded that "the conversion of oil dollars into rials occurred during the peak of oil prices at the end of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first presidential term, resulting in an inflation rate increase to 35 percent." This newspaper noted that at that time, "economic experts predicted the consequences of this government's action," yet "the Ahmadinejad government continued to increase the monetary base until the last days of his presidency," and this action "is also occurring in Hassan Rouhani's government despite a period of stagnation and decreasing inflation," which "economic experts refer to as the second wave of inflation." Jahan-e-Sanat wrote: "Despite the Central Bank's efforts to control inflation, the bank's statistics still indicate growth in the monetary base and liquidity, while the provision of credit lines for projects such as Mehr housing in the eleventh government has been halted, and thus the continuation of growth in the monetary base and liquidity raises ambiguities." The Javan newspaper also reported on its front page about "printing 50 trillion tomans backed by blocked dollars," quoting Shamseddin Hosseini, the former Minister of Economy, as saying: "The government's financing for the 4.1 billion dollars of oil sold has increased the monetary base by 10 trillion tomans and liquidity by 50 trillion tomans." The former Minister of Economy in Ahmadinejad's government also stated that "when the Central Bank is forced to provide rials for sold or uncollected currency to the government, it means an intensification of the government's dominance over this bank." The ruling of Kayhan for "false newsmakers and rumor spreaders" against the regime: "mohdar al-dam." The Kayhan newspaper, in its Sunday issue, published an article titled "Examining Methods of Dealing with False Newsmakers and Media Rumor Spreaders in Religious Teachings," emphasizing that "false and baseless news and rumors are called nonsense," declaring them "mohdar al-dam" and stating: "God says that whenever you reach these rumor-mongers, kill them." This newspaper, which is published under the supervision of the representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, noted in its Sunday issue that "media can plunge a country into chaos and create public anger, looting, and killing; just as these media can bring a restless country to calm and restore security and stability to it," publishing twelve sections under the title "Sharia Rules for Rumor-Mongering and the Ruling on Rumor-Mongers" about those referred to as "murjifoon" and stating: "Murjifoon, or false newsmakers and rumor spreaders, disrupt the security atmosphere of society with false and baseless news and rumors, threatening the Islamic community and system with psychological warfare." Kayhan emphasized that "murjifoon are organized groups similar to hypocrites," writing: "Just as hypocrites act as a social current and the fifth column of the enemy, inflicting damage from within the Islamic community, murjifoon are also an organized group that can include Muslim groups, willingly or unwillingly participating in this movement and current," and "murjifoon create tremors in society and the established system with their false news and rumors." This newspaper also wrote: "Murjifoon are those who create anxiety in the Islamic community through rumor-mongering. According to Quranic verses, they are those who do not go to the jihad front and do not participate in jihadist trenches, but remain in the city, strengthening the enemy with rumor-mongering and weakening the morale of the community. They exaggerate the military and combat capabilities of enemies beyond what they are and shake the hearts of the masses. They not only exaggerate the enemy's capabilities but also downplay the capabilities of the Islamic community, distorting reality and weakening the morale of believers and the masses behind the front, paving the way for the enemy's victory and the defeat of believers." Despite noting that "there is no chapter on rumor-mongering in jurisprudential books," Kayhan wrote: "However, there is no doubt that God has clearly stated the legal and punitive rules for rumor-mongering and rumor-mongers in the aforementioned verses of Surah Al-Ahzab." This newspaper then issued twelve rulings against "newsmakers" and those it calls "murjifoon" and disseminators of "nonsense," which include "completion of the argument and threats," "comprehensive control and eradication of murjifoon," "social exclusion and exile," "creating fear in murjifoon," "ensuring community security against murjifoon," "murjifoon being worthy of death," "cursing murjifoon," "the ineffectiveness of the passage of time against murjifoon," "lack of judicial security for murjifoon," "severity and humiliation for murjifoon," "the definitive ruling and divine tradition," and "the unchangeability of the ruling." In the sixth clause of these rulings, emphasizing the "worthiness of death for murjifoon," citing one of the verses of Surah Al-Ahzab, it stated that this verse "gives the ruling of the worthiness of death for those murjifoon who threaten the security of society with their nonsense," and based on this verse, it wrote: "Whenever you reach these murjifoon, kill them." This newspaper, published under the supervision of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, emphasized that "the judicial ruling for murjifoon is their worthiness of death. Of course, some interpreters consider all these strict measures to apply to those who annoy believers, as mentioned in previous verses, but it seems that all these threats and declarations of worthiness of death are for those who intend to disrupt community security and defeat the system, not for those who disturb people's honor." Kayhan also wrote: "Tolerance and leniency towards murjifoon have their limits, and if the completion of the argument has no effect and they continue their actions, they must be arrested and punished by judicial ruling. Since they are considered corrupt on earth, their ruling is death. Therefore, it can be said that murjifoon, because they disrupt people's security, no longer have personal security and are worthy of death.