One Million Women to Leave the Labor Market

Hojjatollah Mirzaei, the Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, warned in an interview with the Shahrvand newspaper on Tuesday about the "exit of one million women from the labor market" if the Parliament's recent bill regarding "early retirement" for women is implemented. Mirzaei emphasized that the recent bill should be examined from both "micro and macro perspectives." He stated, "On a micro level, this bill benefits those women who can take advantage of it, as they can earn more income with less work simply by depositing in banks, even more than during their full employment." However, on a macro level, "it will harm the female population in society, as it will reduce the female workforce from 14% to 8-9% over five years, and ultimately, it will not attract young female workers because employers, due to recession, either do not hire or refuse to hire women due to high financial and legal burdens." The "early retirement for women" bill is one of the Parliament's decisions during the review of the "Sixth Development Plan," but Mirzaei noted that approximately three million women are employed in Iran's labor market, constituting about 14% of the workforce. About one-third of these women would be affected by the bill, meaning around one million working women in the country. Experience shows that women, for various reasons, including that their income is considered supplementary to household employment, generally welcome such retirement opportunities. He even predicted that in five years, nearly one-third of women currently employed in Iran would exit the labor market, making it significantly more male-dominated, with women's share in the labor market dropping from the current 14% to about 8-9%. The Etemad newspaper reported on its front page that the "electoral strategy of reformists" is being determined, stating that "electoral steps are accelerating in the cold winter of Tehran." The reformists, who have high hopes for a dual victory in the presidential and council elections, are gradually recovering from the shock of Ayatollah Hashemi's death and are trying to replace Hashemi's strategy with collective wisdom. According to the newspaper, the Supreme Policy Council of Reformists held a meeting on Sunday with this approach, discussing and approving the "general electoral strategies" of the reformists by majority vote. However, "there is still no accurate data on the outcomes of this meeting, and it has only been determined that one of the most important outcomes of the meeting on the first of Esfand is the denial of any specific candidate or electoral list for the councils," and the Supreme Policy Council emphasized that this would close the door on current speculations in virtual spaces regarding the imposition of specific candidates and the spread of share-seeking. Etemad also reported that a "charter" was discussed at the meeting of the Supreme Policy Council of Reformists, which "is intended to be signed as a covenant and commitment of the final reformist candidates in the council elections to reformist strategies and programs; an experience that was previously tested in parliamentary elections, and although all members of the Hope List did not adhere to their signatures after entering Parliament, the foundation of the 'charter' has opened the way for better future experiences, which can now be hoped to assist reformists in the May elections." Hassan Rasouli, a member of the Supreme Policy Council of Reformists and the governor of Khorasan during the reformist government, also emphasized in an interview with the Arman newspaper that "the reformist movement must change its electoral strategy and instead of participating in the elections with a single candidate, it should participate with multiple candidates alongside Mr. Rouhani and parallel to him in the elections. The candidates introduced alongside Mr. Rouhani should move in the electoral space to clarify and promote the discourse of reformism and open new paths for reformists." This member of the Supreme Policy Council also stated that "political movements must quickly move past the events following the 2009 elections and not allow these events to cause division and fragmentation in the political space of the country. The consensus of political elites under the leadership of the system as a strategy, and not as a tactic, can currently lead the country to its goals in domestic and foreign areas." Mahmoud Mirloohi, a member of the Iran Islamic Unity Party, also told the Arman newspaper that "the people's house arrest is the most significant rival to Rouhani. If public participation increases, there should be no concern for Rouhani's votes. Even if it is to the detriment of reformists, it should be encouraged." He added that "currently Rouhani has high popularity," but "those who have declared their candidacy in the three months remaining until the presidential elections consider the electoral atmosphere to be one of jokes and jesting." Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, the social deputy of the police, confirmed in a note in the Iran newspaper that two officers acted "independently" in arresting and torturing a guard of a commercial complex in Tehran. The Iran newspaper previously reported that "on January 28, a 42-year-old guard named Majid went to the Tehran police headquarters and filed a complaint stating that a few days ago, two police officers came to his workplace, took him to an unknown location, and tortured him. They then asked him to follow the orders of the owner of the commercial complex where he works and to mind his own business." Following this complaint, the two police officers who had kidnapped the guard were tried for kidnapping in the eighth branch of the criminal court. The social deputy of the police wrote in the Iran newspaper that this force, in addition to "selection," utilizes all "supervisory" and "monitoring" mechanisms to prevent any misconduct by its employees or to intervene early to prevent its continuation if it occurs. However, "unfortunately, recently two police employees, based on their own judgment and without adhering to legal procedures, acted against two workers of a commercial complex and, at the request of the managers of that complex, engaged in a reckless behavior with those two workers." The police deputy also accused the kidnapped workers, stating that "those workers deserved to be dealt with due to their unethical behavior," but since "the police does not tolerate any misconduct by its employees," therefore, "the capital police immediately formed a case for the two errant officers upon learning of the issue and after verifying its accuracy, submitted them to the competent judicial authorities." The Javan newspaper, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, headlined on its front page on the second of Esfand, "Weapons and Alcohol are Free," stating that a reporter from this newspaper "ordered alcohol from a coordinated online store and received it at the newspaper's location." This newspaper also published the prices of various illegal firearms, stating that "from technical specifications to prices and year of manufacture, along with detailed images of various firearms, a fully-fledged online store has been established," and "the firearms advertised in the virtual space are mostly unlicensed, which is why they have lower prices." The newspaper wrote that "of course, fraud is the most common occurrence in the virtual space, and many of these pages can be just a trick to empty the pockets of those looking for such goods, but professionals in this field can easily navigate their way out of trouble." The Javan newspaper emphasized that "the buying and selling of various brands of alcoholic beverages and firearms from 200,000 tomans to several million tomans on internet pages threatens the security of Iranian society," and called on the cyber police to deal with such actions, writing, "If any action has been taken, why are firearms and alcoholic beverages still easily accessible to some Iranian norm-breakers?" The Jahane San'at newspaper reported on the "speed of rising prices of essential goods on the eve of Nowruz," stating that "while officials expect that with unsupported promises for market regulation on the eve of the New Year, nothing will change and people will not worry about securing their daily needs during the holidays, the market situation indicates that the prices of various essential goods are quietly rising." The newspaper wrote, "Currently, in addition to the arbitrary price increase of dairy products, the rice market is heavily influenced by brokers, and in addition to the several-fold price difference between northern rice and Tehran, many impurities have also been added to it and are sold at significant prices," and in the meantime, "evidence shows that the price of oil in the market has faced a five percent increase. Meanwhile, meat prices have also risen, and this week we witnessed another price hike for this product in the market." The Aftab Yazd newspaper reported on the "reverse result" for the interrogators of Abbas Akhoundi, stating that "despite the explicit protests of the hardliners against the Minister of Housing, he received a higher vote of confidence from the Parliament yesterday." The Shargh newspaper also emphasized that Abbas Akhoundi, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, "stayed in the Ministry of Roads with 176 votes from the Parliament, which is one vote higher than the impeachment in October 2015 and 17 votes higher than the vote of confidence from the ninth Parliament," stating, "He is the only minister who has been impeached twice during his tenure and has managed to convince the Parliament both times to stay as minister." The Qanoon newspaper questioned the "legal legitimacy of the city council's plan, known as the parking attendant," stating that "this plan is fundamentally illegal because, first, any collection of money from the people must be approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly; whereas the mentioned plan was approved in the Supreme Traffic Council and has not even been presented in the Parliament. Secondly, considering that this plan is illegal, the tariff amounts are completely unclear at the execution stage, so that each parking attendant can charge whatever price they want from the people based on their discretion. Although it is said that there are tariffs, the lack of precise oversight is not only no different from the absence of tariffs but is also a worse excuse than the sin itself." This newspaper emphasized that "the issued receipts are payment and receipt documents and should not be considered fines," stating, "People can file a complaint against the municipality in the Administrative Justice Court for the annulment of the parking attendant regulations."