Obtaining Commitment from Parents of Burned Children in Shinabad under 'Threat'

The newspaper Etemad published a report on the results of President Rouhani's trip with the headline 'Rouhani Praised by Clergy', stating: 'Hassan Rouhani returned to the political capital of Iran with invaluable support from the religious capital; the support of religious authorities and grand ayatollahs for the government. This support is more valuable than anything else for politicians. At a time of political pressure on the government, the supportive stance of religious leaders from Qom can be a good backing for them.' The newspaper Ebtekar also reported on its front page with the title 'Clerics Behind Rouhani', writing: 'At a time when one of the main axes of attacks by critics of the government has always been to provoke and incite the religious atmosphere of Qom against the government through lies and slander, the President's trip and the caravan of hope to this city was accompanied by unprecedented support from the grand ayatollahs for the eleventh government, perhaps to make the critics realize their efforts in this regard have been futile.' The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, noted Rouhani's visit to Qom, stating: 'Rouhani sat at the feet of the grand clerics of Qom.' This newspaper also emphasized the recommendations of senior clerics to Hassan Rouhani regarding 'maintaining national dignity and resilient economy', writing: 'The religious authorities and scholars, during their meeting with Hojjatoleslam Rouhani, while appreciating the efforts of the government of hope and prudence and the President to solve problems, emphasized the necessity of special attention to cultural issues and strengthening the religious and ideological foundations of society.' This newspaper also published critical remarks from Iranian and Western officials regarding 'significant progress' in nuclear negotiations under the headline 'Once Again Optimism about Nuclear Negotiations'. In its editorial, the newspaper Javan harshly criticized Ali Younesi, Hassan Rouhani's assistant for ethnic and religious minorities, for his recent remarks attributing 'human rights violations in Iran' to hardliners, referring to him as 'an advisor in the role of opposition'. The newspaper Qanoon dedicated its front page to Sima Shadkam, a student from Shinabad, detailing how she and her classmates suffered burns. Simultaneously, Hossein Ahmadi-Nia, the lawyer for the Shinabad students, and Mohammad Shadkam, Sima's father, spoke with Qanoon about obtaining commitments from the parents of 18 Shinabad students regarding 'half of the blood money' under 'threat'. The newspaper Shahrevand reported on Alireza Ghorbani's strong reaction to the cancellation of his concert in Chenaran, and Mohsen Sami, the head of the music department in Razavi Khorasan province, in an interview with Shargh, provided new details about the behind-the-scenes of the concert's cancellation, stating that initially 'the issue of gender segregation was raised by the prosecutor. We resisted.' After that, they said it was not in the interest of the public, and ultimately the prosecutor directly issued a letter to cancel the program. The newspaper Shahrevand highlighted the remarks of Abdolreza Azizi, head of the Social Commission of the ninth parliament, regarding the equality of 'the cost of addiction to cigarettes and drugs in Iran with construction credits'. This newspaper quoted Abdolreza Azizi as saying: 'Currently, the number of smokers in the country is between 10 to 13 million, who spend between 3 to 4 trillion tomans annually on cigarettes. The same amount is spent on treating the effects of cigarette consumption, such as lung cancer, totaling about 10 trillion tomans; while about 7 trillion tomans is spent on crystal meth and about 14 trillion tomans on other drugs. The total annual figures amount to about 30 trillion tomans' while 'the total construction budget for this year is about 35 trillion tomans.' Azar Mansouri, a reformist political activist, emphasized in an interview with Shargh that the 'share of women in the reformists' electoral list should now be specified.' The newspaper Shargh also published parts of Saeed Hajarian's speech on the assassination attempt against him on March 22, 1999, during the general assembly of the Islamic Medical Association at Beheshti University in Tehran, where he stated: 'The bullet that was shot at me targeted my brain; however, it could not target my mind and intellect.' The newspaper Qanoon also reported that 'the municipality of Salmas announced in a statement the return of the statue of Ferdowsi to the city and stated that another point in the city would be considered for renaming.' This newspaper recalled that previously 'the statue of Hakim Ferdowsi was removed from Ferdowsi Square in this city under various pretexts, and the square's name was changed to Revolution Square.' The destruction of historical artifacts in the Mosul Museum by 'Islamic State' militants has received widespread coverage in Iranian newspapers on Saturday. The newspaper Iran dedicated its front page to the destruction of this historical site with the report titled 'ISIS's Hammer on the Body of Mesopotamian Civilization', stating: 'The Takfiris brought history to slaughter in Mosul.' The newspaper Kayhan also published a photo of the destruction of these artifacts by the group on its front page, writing: 'ISIS destroyed the historical artifacts of Mosul and set fire to the libraries of Salah al-Din.' This newspaper also published several photos of senior Revolutionary Guards commanders at the 'Great Exercise of the Prophet Muhammad-9', stating: 'The Strait of Hormuz is a lever of sanctions against sanctions.' The newspaper Jahan San'at reported in a report titled 'Who Owns This Helicopter', stating: 'Two days after a plane crash at Payam Airport and the severe injury of its two passengers, on Thursday, a helicopter crashed into a mountain in Darband, Tehran, killing its three passengers.' According to this newspaper, while 'the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics' announced that 'the crashed helicopter in Darband belongs to the Iranian Red Crescent Society', the director of the public relations of the Red Crescent Society stated that 'the crashed helicopter in the heights of Tehran does not belong to the Red Crescent.' The obtaining of commitments from the parents of 18 Shinabad students regarding 'half of the blood money' under 'threat' has been reported by the newspaper Qanoon, which dedicated its front page to Sima Shadkam, and this student detailed how she and her classmates suffered burns. Simultaneously, Hossein Ahmadi-Nia, the lawyer for the Shinabad students, and Mohammad Shadkam, Sima's father, spoke with Qanoon about obtaining commitments from the parents of 18 Shinabad students regarding 'half of the blood money' under 'threat'. Hossein Ahmadi-Nia, the lawyer for the Shinabad students, told Qanoon: 'The main concern of the families of the victims of the Shinabad school fire these days is the halving of blood money and the non-payment of compensation for these girls.' According to the lawyer of the Shinabad girls, despite the fact that 'there is no difference between compensation for injury and blood money in Article 562 of the new Islamic Penal Code, and the compensation for women and men is the same, but under the threat to the parents of 18 Shinabad children who were in a bad financial situation and in a state of mental distress, half of the blood money and compensation were paid to them', and even 'in an inhumane and unethical act, they were made to agree not to have the right to complain against the education system and the insurance company.' Hossein Ahmadi-Nia described this action as 'an injustice' to the Shinabad schoolgirls and said: 'I do not understand why this injustice should be done to these children. What difference is there between Sima and a boy? They are both human beings; what difference does the situation make?' The lawyer for the Shinabad schoolgirls pointed out that 'the law recognizes the principle of non-discrimination and equality of all individuals in Articles 19 to 21 of the Iranian Constitution', elaborating on legal arguments and telling Qanoon: 'With this legal and jurisprudential argument, Mr. [Mohammad Baqer] Nobakht came to our aid on behalf of the government, and with the kindness of the director of the Iran Insurance Company, 100% of the blood money was paid for 8 who had not agreed.' Hossein Ahmadi-Nia emphasized that 'we are pursuing this issue for the other Shinabad schoolgirls because they have been severely wronged', stating: 'For example, the insurance has acted against Sima [Shadkam] for 200 million tomans. Because the compensation for Sima is her beauty, which she no longer has, and the pain she suffers is her compensation. Moreover, we have not even considered the moral damages of these children. These children struggle to move in society, and the heavy gazes of people hurt them to the point that they are reluctant to engage with society.' The lawyer for the Shinabad schoolgirls, while reminding that 'the government does not help them as a favor, but rather has a duty to do so according to the constitutional and civil law', emphasized that 'part of our problem in determining compensation is due to the lack of an accurate forensic report. Now we must request the latest status of these 26 children from the forensic medicine because these children are healing and undergoing surgery 20 to 30 times a year, using skin from their bodies for reconstruction, so new damages are being added to them every day.' Hossein Ahmadi-Nia stated: 'The penal law emphasizes obtaining the latest status of the children because the percentages of blood money vary according to treatment, pain, and injury, so it must be determined for today, tomorrow, and three years later, etc.', and for this reason, as this lawyer for 26 families, 'I request that moral damages be considered for these children and the difference in blood money between women and men in this case be eliminated.' Mohammad Shadkam, Sima Shadkam's father, also told Qanoon, emphasizing that 'we were forced to accept half of the blood money under threat', stating: '18 of the parents of the Shinabad children have not been able to receive the full blood money and compensation for their children from Iran Insurance until today.' In response to Qanoon's question of 'why did you agree to receive half of the blood money?', he said: 'At 10 PM, tired from the hospital, I returned to the city when the head of the cooperative called me and said: Mr. Shadkam, your blood money is 50 million tomans, and emphasized that Mr. Pashaei from Iran Insurance said that more than this is not Sima's right. I rejected it and said 50 million is for you because you need it and can spend it on the city. After 30 minutes, he called again and said the director of Iran Insurance says it was a mistake, and Sima's blood money is 72 million and 650 thousand tomans, and insisted that if you do not take this blood money, it will go to the court and you will not receive any money. At that time, no one, not even the head of the judiciary or the government, can help you.' Mohammad Shadkam told this newspaper: 'I went to Iran Insurance, and the insurance experts brought several articles and clauses and said this is it, and there is no other way for you. We were in a state of disarray and could not think. They threatened that if you do not take this money, not even a rial will be paid to Sima. We had to accept it, while all the insurance experts and education officials knowingly deceived us.' Regarding the level of attention from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government when the Shinabad school fire occurred during his administration, he told Qanoon: 'When our daughter was hospitalized in Isfahan, the Minister of Education of Mr. Ahmadinejad visited the girls. We gave him a letter, and when Mr. [Hamid Reza] Hajibabaei reached the ministry in Tehran, he lost the letter. This shows the utmost attention of the officials at the time.' However, now 'with the change of government, the situation has improved significantly. Although unfortunately, in Urmia, the government does not listen.' During the fire incident in mid-December 2012 at the 'Islamic Revolution' school in the village of Shinabad in Piranshahr, 28 girl students suffered burns, two of whom, named Siran Yeganeh and Sarina Rasoulzadeh, lost their lives due to severe burns.