Newspapers Captured by a 'Resignation': Will Jannati Stay or Go?

The newspaper Noavaran published a cartoon of Ali Jannati, reflecting different news about the resignation of the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, stating, 'This time, rumors have caught the Minister of Culture.' The newspaper noted that 'after the failure of hardline factions to attack and incapacitate the government through diplomacy, which remains strong, this time they have launched an attack from the cultural sphere.' It reviewed the media attacks by the principlist faction on the performance of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance since the beginning of the eleventh government, stating: Although the Minister of Culture has recently responded to rumors about his dismissal by saying, 'There are always talks about my dismissal, and there are rumors about it, but these are just rumors and my dismissal is not true,' it has now been emphasized that the possibility of Ali Jannati's dismissal could occur not by the President's decree but 'by submitting his resignation to Rouhani.' Ayatollah Vakeelian, in the Noavaran report, also referred to Ali Jannati's dual status, writing: 'Ali Jannati is the eldest son of the Secretary of the Guardian Council. At first glance, this backing could lead politicians to believe that Ali Jannati is a minister who will not be threatened by the parliament or opponents, but the situation developed differently; the day Ali Jannati was introduced as the proposed minister to the parliament, two hardline representatives, Karimi Qodosi and Rasayi, spoke of Jannati's intellectual allegiance to the Minister of Culture of Mohammad Khatami's first government, expressing 'feelings of danger' about this selection and advised that Mr. Jannati should only show intellectual allegiance to the Supreme Leader.' The Noavaran newspaper also mentioned possible candidates to succeed Ali Jannati, stating: 'Some figures close to the government have also mentioned the possibility of replacing Reza Salehi Amiri, the current head of the National Library, with Ali Jannati in the cabinet, while news agencies and websites close to the principlists also speculate that Hesamoddin Ashna is a likely candidate for the Ministry of Culture.' Meanwhile, Ahmad Gholami, in the editorial of the Shargh newspaper, described the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as a 'minister-killing ministry,' writing: 'If Ali Jannati cannot remain a minister until the end of his four-year term like some other ministers of culture, the future of 'culture' will become much more ambiguous. The reformist government’s president could not last until the end of his term in the Ministry of Culture. Mohammad Hossein Safar Harandi also could not remain in office until the end of a term. Attaollah Mohajerani also lasted no more than three years before resigning.' The Shargh newspaper emphasized that 'a cursory review of the history of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance over the past few decades, focusing on these personalities, shows that this key ministry has become a battleground for factions or, better yet, a place for settling scores between political factions.' The editorial writer of Shargh pointed out Ali Jannati's position in the eleventh government, noting that the Minister of Culture himself had said upon taking office about the 'alarming state of culture and the woes of the publishing sector' and that 'the government alone cannot control the cultural situation.' However, he (Ali Jannati) was left alone, 'facing the fiercest attacks from opponents and not receiving much decisive support from the government, and since, unlike some other political figures, he had little standing among cultural figures, no coherent and worthy collective event occurred during his ministry that he could leverage. Nuclear negotiations progressed, political conflicts intensified, economic issues were resolved, but culture was neglected. The Ministry of Culture could not stand by its permits as Jannati had said and wanted; films were left unreleased, books remained stuck in censorship, and concerts were canceled, leading to several of the few remaining prominent figures in our culture and arts leaving the country.' The newspaper Jahan San'at also published a note by Salahuddin Harsani, a university professor, about 'the ins and outs of a resignation,' stating: 'The dualism governing Ali Jannati's behavioral patterns as Minister of Culture deprived him of both independence and unity in carrying out the functions and programs of this ministry,' and 'this dualism in Ali Jannati's behavior stemmed from his political position.' This newspaper reminded that Ali Jannati 'as the Minister of Culture of the government of hope and prudence, according to the mission of this ministry in the post-Ahmadinejad era, had to act according to the cultural desires of this government with the slogan of change,' while 'he also had to show himself as a minister whose programs align with the demands of reformists,' but his mission as a minister wanting to implement change in line with the government’s hopes and prudence was fundamentally difficult and challenging due to the political affiliation and position of his father, Ahmad Jannati, 'who had a tendency towards the anti-reformist front.' The writer of Jahan San'at also noted that 'if the decision to resign by Ali Jannati is true, such a decision has its specific consequences, which primarily affect the cultural programs of the government of hope and prudence,' and 'without a doubt, such a decision would mean a failure of the cultural policies of the government of hope and prudence and could provide an excuse for the hardliners to launch their last arrow aimed at the strategy and policies of the Rouhani government’s hope and prudence.' The newspaper Shahrvand headlined 'Education and Training on the Line of Punishment,' stating: 'Iran's education and training system had a bad week; during the days that were officially off, many Iranians circulated images of several students who had been punished and injured by their teachers.' Elnaz Mohammadi, in a report for Shahrvand, noted that the incident began with news about the flogging and expulsion of ten students from Shahid Chamran School in the village of Mokhtarabad in the city of 'Rudbar-e Jonub' in Kerman, and then the Kerman Education Department issued a statement declaring that 'the video and interview regarding the physical punishment and expulsion of students from Rudbar-e Jonub, published on social media, is completely false and malicious.' However, 'not even a day had passed since the denial of the flogging of the students from Mokhtarabad in Kerman due to inability to pay school registration fees when IRNA reported that students at a school in the city of 'Kalaleh' in Golestan province had been beaten by their teacher.' According to this newspaper, after that, 'Mohammad Parsa,' a student at a high school in district 9 of Tehran, 'had his head broken and received three stitches due to being pushed by his teacher,' and now in the latest case, 'Ghasir Ghaderi, a student at Adib Elementary School in the village of Khairabad Bampour in Iranshahr, who was beaten by his teacher on October 3, has been hospitalized due to severe injuries, and the image of his swollen eyes and bruised face has caused a wave of sadness among Iranians.' The newspaper Arman also reported under the headline 'A Tsunami of Physical Punishment in Schools' that 'Ghasir Ghaderi, a fifth-grade student at Adib Elementary School in the village of Khairabad Bampour, who was severely punished by his teacher, has been hospitalized in Iranshahr due to the severity of his injuries. The aftershocks of this shocking incident have led to the resignation of the head of the education department in the Bampour region, the suspension of the school principal, and the summoning of the offending teacher to the inspection committee.' Ramin Alizadeh, a reporter for Arman, pointed out that 'cases of physical punishment have also been reported in Kerman and Golestan,' writing that the publication of this news 'has not only sparked numerous reactions but has also fueled widespread revelations about physical punishment in Iranian schools, with some cases denied and others under investigation.' The newspaper Etemad published a report titled 'The Narratives of the Death of the Family of a Tabriz Doctor,' stating: 'Two members of Dr. Alireza Solhi's family were killed and three were hospitalized due to contaminated sacrificial food.' This newspaper reported: Alireza Solhi, a Tabriz doctor who became famous a year ago for recommending 'listening to Shajarian's voice for healing' and 'covering the treatment costs of some of his patients,' never imagined that one day his family would be targeted by unknown individuals, and this time his name would be on everyone's lips due to the death of his wife and grandmother.' One of Alireza Solhi's relatives, referring to the hospitalization of his mother and father and the discharge of this Tabriz doctor's brother, told Etemad about the details of the incident: 'One day before the incident, when Alireza was standing in front of the clinic and was about to get into his car, an unknown man approached him, claiming he wanted to give sacrificial food, and asked how many members of his family there were. Alireza did not know the man but thought he was one of his previous patients and surely had sacrificial food, so he said there were six. The next day, the same man returned to the clinic, and when Alireza was about to leave, he gave him six sacrificial foods. Alireza took them home and returned to the clinic. In the evening, when he returned home again, he found all his family members suffering from poisoning and lying weakly. They quickly transferred all of them to Sina Hospital, but Alireza's wife and grandmother lost their lives.' The Etemad newspaper noted that 'Alireza Solhi is a member of the Unity Party and was previously the head of the Islamic Association of Azad University of Tabriz,' quoting the same individual who was introduced as 'a relative of Alireza Solhi' without naming him, stating: 'Now everyone is saying that it may be a medical settlement that caused the incident,' but no one was waiting for the death of Mr. Solhi's family members, since 'Alireza's wife, Elmira Mohammadi Khanlu, died at 10 PM on Sunday, but on that same day, an odd incident occurred. Around 1 PM, an unknown woman called the police and said that Elmira (Dr. Solhi's wife) had died in the hospital, while at that time she was still alive. It was as if someone was waiting for the death of Alireza's family.' Mohammad Esmail Saeedi, a representative of Tabriz in the tenth parliament, told this newspaper: 'According to the latest news and information obtained, the sacrificial food was poisoned, but the intentional or unintentional nature of it needs to be examined precisely.' The Iran newspaper reported under the title 'The Mystery of the Death of a Prominent Tabriz Doctor's Family' that 'simultaneously with the mysterious death of two members of the prominent Tabriz doctor's family and the severe poisoning of other family members, special criminal investigations are ongoing to uncover this controversial case, while the political-security deputy of East Azerbaijan province has denied the security nature of this incident,' but 'according to this doctor, his family died after eating sacrificial food.' According to this newspaper, in addition to appointing a special representative from the Minister of Health to address the case of the death of Dr. Solhi's wife and grandmother, Iraj Harirchi, the deputy and general secretary of the Ministry of Health, also traveled to Tabriz on behalf of the Minister of Health and, while visiting the father, mother, and brother of the 32-year-old doctor, expressed condolences to their family, saying: 'I ask everyone, especially the media, to refrain from any speculation and hasty judgments in this matter and to allow security and judicial authorities to uncover the main aspects of this incident. The Tabriz University of Medical Sciences is also following up on this incident through provincial officials, and the security and judicial authorities of the province are also investigating the matter.' Mohammad Esmail Saeedi, a representative of Tabriz, told the Iran newspaper: 'The parliament must follow up on the poisoning incident of the Tabriz doctor's family. I extend my condolences to this young doctor from Tabriz for this bitter event. We were saddened to hear this news and are following up on the matter. It must be clarified whether this contaminated food was prepared intentionally or not. I also ask security officials and the police to pursue this matter diligently and swiftly to identify the perpetrators of this incident. Given that this incident occurred after eating sacrificial food, it has had significant repercussions within the province and the country, and the issue must be examined as quickly as possible, and the results should be communicated to enlighten public opinion.' According to this newspaper, while Gholamali Mozaffari, the head of the East Azerbaijan judiciary, stated that 'the cause of the death of the Tabriz doctor's wife and grandmother has not yet been determined, and the case is under investigation, and since the case is in the investigation stage, any comments regarding the validity of the claims made are unfounded,' Jamal Hosseini, the public relations manager of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, announced that 'the food poisoning of this family has been confirmed and determined, thus the family of the young Tabriz doctor has been targeted with suspicious and contaminated sacrificial food.' 'An informed source in the Tabriz police' also told the Iran newspaper that 'the police investigation is continuing with full seriousness, but the motives for the food poisoning have not yet been determined. Also, the forensic medicine has not yet provided an opinion on the cause of death of the members of Dr. Solhi's family, and Tabriz detectives are also investigating and following up on this case,' and 'the suspect in distributing the contaminated sacrificial food has not yet been arrested and is under pursuit.'