Neither War Nor Peace

The newspaper Shargh, in its issue on Saturday, November 20, discusses the latest regional developments, including tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, in a report titled "Neither War Nor Peace." The newspaper, featuring a photo of Emmanuel Macron and reporting on his trip to Saudi Arabia, quotes the French President as saying, "I heard the Saudis' extremely harsh positions on Iran, which do not align with our views, but I believe working with Saudi Arabia to maintain regional stability is essential." Shargh reports that the French President criticized Iran's "missile program," stating, "Just as we did in 2015 regarding Iran's nuclear program, it is necessary to outline the framework for negotiations on Iran's missile activities and, if necessary, initiate a process through sanctions that makes negotiations possible." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, dedicated its front page to Hassan Rouhani, quoting him as saying to Saudi leaders, "We defeated a stronger bully than you; you are nothing." This newspaper also highlighted statements from Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, who said, "Saudi Arabia's declaration of war on Lebanon is blind inexperience" and that "Saudi Arabia should know that all their plans in Lebanon will fail, just as their conspiracies have failed in other parts of the world; Saudi Arabia cannot destroy Hezbollah." The increase in youth unemployment was also reported by the state newspaper Iran, which published a report on the "economic indicators of Iran" for the first six months of the year 96, stating that "10% inflation rate, 34% increase in housing transactions, a 300-toman rise in the dollar, and 11% unemployment" are part of the "overall picture of Iran's economy in the past six months." This newspaper noted that "the economic indicators of this year tell various stories," stating, "Some have pulled themselves up on the graph, some have stagnated, and some have slipped. However, various reports from the Central Bank and the Statistical Center of Iran indicate that most of them have experienced slow, steady growth." According to the newspaper Iran, "the average inflation rate in the first half of this year was about 10.1%, with the highest inflation rate during this period occurring in Farvardin at over 12%." Although the Central Bank has not yet announced the economic growth rate for this year, the latest report from the Statistical Center indicates that "economic growth in the first quarter of this year, including oil, was 7% and without oil, 6.5%." The newspaper also mentioned that "the Statistical Center of Iran announced the unemployment rate for the summer of this year as 11.7%, but during this period, the unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 increased from 27.8% to 28.8%, and for those aged 15 to 29 from 24.9% to 26.4%." Additionally, "out of 6.6 million active graduates or students in higher education, 3.5 million are employed, and 3.1 million, equivalent to 20%, are unemployed." The newspaper Iran also referred to the "300-toman rise in the dollar" in the first six months of this year, stating, "In the first half of this year, the average selling price of one US dollar in the free market was about 3792 tomans," noting that the dollar rose from 3,776 tomans in Farvardin to 4,000 tomans by mid-Mehr, and "is currently being traded in the free market at a rate of about 4,070 tomans." The newspaper Shahrvand, with the headline "Broke Lovers," reported that "the Minister of Science's advice about falling in love led to widespread criticism from Iranian users regarding unemployment and the economy." According to this newspaper, Mansour Gholami told students to "fall in love carefully and not to fall in love too easily," but based on a cultural behavior survey conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran, the most significant issue regarding marriage among urban individuals aged 18 and older is unemployment at 74%, lack of permanent jobs at 54.4%, housing issues at 54.1%, and the poor financial situation of the head of the household at 33.5%. The newspaper Shahrvand also reminded that "the unemployment rate among university graduates has reached record levels, and while the number of individuals with university education has increased 14-fold since the revolution, official reports indicate that the economic participation rate of educated individuals has decreased from 68.8% in 1986 to 48% in 2011, and this trend continues; currently, the crisis of educated unemployed individuals and unemployment is considered one of the major challenges for the government, even leading to advisory support from the International Monetary Fund for Iran." Decoding a message, the newspaper Jam-e-Farda emphasized in its front page titled "Decoding Tehran's Message to Riyadh" that "the common message from all political and diplomatic officials in Iran to Saudi Arabia is simply one sentence: they want Saudi Arabia to exercise reason; otherwise, regional crisis will increase. In Tehran, Riyadh's provocations are met with patience and endurance, and of course, the end of every message is an invitation to patience stemming from power." This newspaper identified two requests from Saudi Arabia to Iran as "withdrawal from the Arab sphere and negotiation over ballistic missiles," stating, "Saudi Arabia wants to enter the JCPOA regarding the control of ballistic missiles, a topic that the Americans also agree with." However, the second request from Riyadh was raised by Abdel Bari Atwan in the editorial of the newspaper Rai al-Youm, stating, "Salman wants to replace Arab nationalism with the sword of Wahhabism, but he does not care what dangers this political reform poses for the Middle East; he wants to end Iran's presence in Syria and Iraq under the pretext of Iranophobia and Arab nationalism." Jam-e-Farda noted that "Saudi Arabia, under the pretext of Hariri's resignation in Lebanon, wants to implement the 2006 UN Security Council resolution regarding the disarmament of militias in Lebanon," while the Iranian Foreign Minister stated regarding Iran's presence in Iraq and Syria that "we are present there at the request of the governments of Iraq and Syria." In its editorial on Saturday, this newspaper wrote that "with the end of ISIS, the argument that the presence of foreign forces in Syria is no longer necessary will soon be raised, and certainly, the aim of raising it will be to point to Iranian forces in Syria," but Iran should respond to this request by stating that "with the liberation of Syrian territory, it has another task: ensuring the absence of any intention to disrupt the arrangement of borders and forces in the region." Emphasizing the necessity of internal dialogue, the newspaper Etemad in its editorial stressed the "necessity of internal dialogue in the face of external threats," stating, "With the defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria on one hand and the cancellation of the division of Iraqi Kurdistan on the other, Iran is in a historically unique position in the region," and "it is entirely clear that Iran's enemies and rivals are extremely angry and sometimes lose their usual balance, and there is a possibility that they may act recklessly and create an incident; however, in such circumstances, the best option is for Iran to "stand on its own feet and, relying on its own capacities, increase national strength and stability and uproot foreign greed." Mohammad Kazemi, the representative of Malayer, who is the author of the editorial, emphasized that "if dialogue is possible between Iran and the six world powers and a lose-lose game can be turned into a win-win game, this possibility is certainly greater within the country, and by submitting to dialogue and its necessities, national power can be increased." The editorial writer of this newspaper stated that "since we are sitting in the same boat," it is possible to engage with political and media defendants in a spirit of admonition and reserve punishment for the final stages, as "except for a few political defendants who have ulterior motives, the majority, even if they err, only differ with us in methods and see their way as closer to correctness." The newspaper Etemad emphasized that the current two political factions in Iran "one is powerful and the other is popular, and if these two come closer and do not neutralize each other, they will increase national strength." In a note titled "Molting," the newspaper Arman has a different perspective on regional developments, especially regarding Saudi Arabia, and in a note titled "Redefining Saudi Arabia," it wrote: "Saudi Arabia is undergoing a molting process. The power structure in Saudi Arabia, led by Mohammed bin Salman, is rapidly changing. Saudi Arabia is moving from a traditional tribal society to a modern society. This transformation is not related to Trump's support for Salman, financial and economic deals, etc. If Hillary Clinton were in power, this change would still occur, and she would support it," adding that "changing priorities in Saudi Arabia is ongoing, and in the future, whether with Salman or without him, this path will continue, and the emergence of a new Saudi Arabia will be the result of this process." Sadegh Maleki, the author of this note, who is introduced as a "senior political analyst," also wrote: "In the process of upcoming changes in Saudi Arabia, Salman’s team is trying to redefine the Saudi structure by moving beyond Wahhabism and weakening it, aiming to define a new identity and face of Saudi Arabia that aligns with the current conditions for its people and the world through secularism and strengthening Arab identity. The emergence of ISIS and its consequences have been the greatest help in Saudi Arabia's transition from Salafi extremism to secularism." The author of the Arman newspaper even wrote: "Strengthening Arab identity and secularism in Saudi Arabia will reduce internal challenges with Saudi Shiites, and in the long term, it will also reduce Saudi challenges with Shiites in the region, as we have already witnessed the initial impacts of this approach in Baghdad-Riyadh relations and the visits of Muqtada al-Sadr and al-Abadi to Saudi Arabia and the emergence of the Hikma movement led by Ammar al-Hakim, and we will see more consequences of this in the future." The newspaper Hamdeli, in its front page, quoted Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative of the tenth parliament, as saying, "I am a useless representative who has not been able to do anything for Sasan Aghaei." This newspaper reported that the presence of Sasan Aghaei's family, a journalist who has been detained for three months, at Mahmoud Sadeghi's speech on Wednesday night in the youth branch of the Iranian National Call Party led to this representative emphasizing the existence of cases of violations of journalists' rights, stating, "I have been somewhat involved in this case and have taken some actions; Sasan Aghaei is one of those whose fundamental rights have been violated." Hamdeli noted that "now three months have passed since Sasan Aghaei has been in solitary confinement and has not been introduced to court, and no lawyer access has been granted to him," quoting Mahmoud Sadeghi as saying, "I clearly state that the principles of the Constitution and fundamental rights have been violated regarding this journalist; I, as a useless representative, have not been able to do anything for him. We are ashamed." The increase in the powers of the Basij was reported by the newspaper Etemad, which stated that the amendment of "increasing the powers of the Basij" is on the agenda of the tenth parliament, noting that "the plan to strengthen the Basij, which was hurriedly approved by a number of representatives close to the Steadfast Front in the final days of the ninth parliament and returned to the parliament due to objections from the Guardian Council, is now on the agenda this week." This newspaper pointed out that during the review of articles two and three of the Basij strengthening plan, it became so controversial that representatives had no choice but to remove it, stating that "in article two of this plan, which representatives such as Gholamali Dorri designed, it was seen that Basij bases would be established in a wide range of locations from residential complexes and commercial centers to schools," and in article three, it was stated that "the Basij Organization will establish Basij resistance bases in cooperation with government, private, and public institutions across the country." Etemad wrote: "It remains to be seen whether the tenth parliament will vote on a plan that hardliners crafted and approved with about 150 votes. Will the tenth parliament approve the powers of the Basij forces despite the financial burden on the government? We must wait and see." In a report titled "In the Name of Reformists, for the Benefit of Opportunists," the newspaper Bahar wrote: "At least one-third of the members of the Hope faction are opportunists who have climbed over the wall of reformism." The newspaper Bahar, in its editorial titled "Eggplant; It Is Not That Cleric's Fault," wrote: "A video from a religious program on television has been circulated on social media, in which a cleric, apparently in the position of a religious expert on the program, makes strange statements regarding 'the acknowledgment of the authority by eggplant' based on a narration that is not very credible." This newspaper criticized such statements in various programs of state television, stating, "When a large part of the clergy has been eliminated from this media due to factional conflicts, it is natural to witness the presence of individuals who neither understand the conditions of society nor grasp the media's requirements and have insufficient knowledge of religious teachings."