Persepolis at Risk of Being Removed from UNESCO World Heritage List

The newspaper Shahrvand has reported that due to the construction of a 24-meter silo within the vicinity of Persepolis, "Persepolis is at risk of being removed from the list of world heritage sites." According to Shahrvand, "Cracking stones, flooding, mudslides, and land subsidence were already issues, and the construction of a 24-meter silo in the vicinity of Persepolis has added to the troubles of Iran's largest ancient site. These wheat storage silos have been built in the landscape of Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rustam, which could be a reason for the removal of these sites from UNESCO's world heritage list." Shahrvand adds: "Persepolis, considered one of the largest stone structures in the world, has faced various threats over the years, but none have managed to bring this historical monument to its knees so far. However, construction near this site could lead to its removal from the world heritage list and deal a significant blow to the reputation and status of this magnificent monument. The construction of two silos, each 24 meters tall and about 17 meters in diameter, has been carried out while the permitted construction height in this area is 8.5 meters. Although the construction of these silos has been halted, concerns continue." The newspaper Qanoon dedicated a photo in its Thursday issue to the gathering of the youth of the 1380s (2000s) in Tehran, stating: "The gathering of the 1380s generation at the Kourosh Complex was neither political nor subversive; it was merely an expression of a demand for joy, happiness, and the right to release social tensions." According to this newspaper, on Tuesday, June 18, nearly "two thousand boys and girls" gathered at the Kourosh Complex in western Tehran, which was met with police response to disperse the crowd, but in reality, it led them to a new wave of protests over unmet needs and demands. Farshid Es-haghi, in a report for Qanoon, noted that "previously, in past years, some non-political gatherings solely for expressing joy and happiness occurred among older age groups, such as water play gatherings in parks in Tehran." He wrote: "The gathering of the 1380s generation is noteworthy because in previous years, the needs of 15- and 16-year-olds were only pursued through books and school, and their other desires, such as socializing with older groups, were never acknowledged. However, now, in the mid-90s, the gathering of the 1380s generation has shown that the development of the communication era and modern communication technologies has made the needs of teenagers completely different from what they have been before." Emanollah Gharaei Moghaddam, a sociologist, also told Qanoon: "The gathering at the Kourosh Complex was an opportunity for a generation of society to express their grievances over their neglected needs. In a society where officials' thoughts revolve around issues other than social joy and happiness, and the growth of the country's children is overlooked, we should expect spontaneous individual behaviors for protest and to fulfill their demands." The newspaper Etemad also featured the headline "The Voice of the 1380s Generation" on its front page, stating: "A chain of several new events indicates the entry of the new generation of the country into political, social, and cultural transformations." This newspaper pointed out that the participants in the Kourosh gathering were "high school students, many of whom were born in the 1380s and intended to celebrate the end of their exams with a large gathering or, as they called it, a celebration meeting." It noted that this gathering "brought security guards, patrols, and police to the Kourosh Complex, and according to some witnesses, Basij and plainclothes agents were also present, and then news, photos, and videos circulated on social media." Some vendors at the Kourosh commercial complex stated: "On Tuesday, tear gas was used in the street, and the patrols also came; two of the doors were closed, and only the main door was open, through which no one was allowed to enter." However, the 1380s generation "after leaving had no intention of going home; the situation continued until nearly 11 o'clock." Zahra Choupankareh, a reporter for Etemad, quoted one of the 1380s generation as saying: "We have a Telegram channel with nearly 10,000 members, and we are all around the same age. Through this channel, we arranged the meeting place," and on Tuesday, "after the exams ended, everyone rushed out, so we came to have fun, but the police responded very badly. We all went to the park below the mall and celebrated, but the police came and broke up the gathering." Mohammad Soltani Far, the director of the Media Studies and Planning Office, wrote in Etemad's editorial titled "The Mystery of Generation S" that "we must come to a belief that we are facing a generation that is vastly different from its previous generations, its parents, and its grandparents. In the world, this generation is called Generation S, and they have their own specific and common characteristics. Their age is defined from adolescence up to a maximum of 25 years. They are those who receive all their leadership and guidance from social networks." The editorial writer noted that this generation "if they decide to form gatherings, will follow the leadership of social networks," writing: "They have, in a way, replaced the teachings of their parents with social networks. Their adherence to teachers and traditional educational systems, such as parents and formal education like high school and university, is decreasing every day, and they seek their teachings in other spaces." He emphasized that if "educational systems want to combat them violently, they will bypass these systems and find their own way." Mohammad Soltani Far stressed that "in the past, our delay in understanding technology deepened the gap between us and the world, but today, our lack of understanding of this technology deepens our generational gap from within." He wrote: "If we do not recognize the technologies of Generation S today, we will lose our children. The growth of the generational gap that previously had an arithmetic increase will turn into a generational gap with geometric growth, and we will reach a point where nothing can fill this gap." The newspaper Shahrvand also dedicated its front page photo to the Kourosh meeting and reported that a similar gathering was also held in Tabriz and Karaj. Elnaz Mohammadi, in a report for this newspaper, wrote: "In recent days, this was not the only virtual meeting of teenagers in Tehran that made headlines," as "in cities like Tabriz and Karaj, invitations for gatherings of teenagers were made, and some of them gathered together," and the gathering in Karaj even led to the arrest of "one person on charges of calling for water play." The newspaper Shahrvand also reported that on Wednesday, the gathering of the 1380s generation was repeated in Tehran and "again caused the closure of shops and, this time, the arrest of several of these teenagers by the police, although this force has not officially confirmed the arrests." The newspaper Iran, close to the government, reported on the efforts of some members of parliament to form a third faction in the tenth parliament, stating: "The formation of the new faction titled Moderation has gone beyond mere whispers and suggestions and has entered the establishment phase." This newspaper noted that "the Mirror Hall of Baharestan has hosted the founders and initiators of the new faction twice so far," quoting Gholamali Jafarzadeh, a representative from Rasht, as saying: "This faction will be formed with a moderate policy and will consist of moderate and independent representatives of the tenth parliament," as "moderate and principled representatives of the Velayat faction are not politically aligned with some other groups of principlists, such as the steadfast and government opponents, and cannot work together." Although Mohsen Kouhkan, a prominent figure of the Velayat faction, considered these remarks as mere suggestions, the newspaper Iran reported that "the second meeting of the founders of the new faction was held on Tuesday in the Mirror Hall, and even a draft of the charter of this political entity has been unveiled." "The Season of Changes for Three Clerics and Three Jurists" is the headline of a report in the newspaper Etemad regarding speculations about the end of "the term of office of three clerics and three jurists" in July of this year. According to this newspaper, "the terms of office of Ayatollah Jannati, Ayatollah Modarresi Yazdi, and Ayatollah Shabzendeh will soon end in early July," and according to the constitution, the leader of the Islamic Republic must issue new appointments. However, "it seems that with an extension, these three clerics will be retained for another six-year term." Etemad has predicted that "the jurists of the Guardian Council will have the most uncertainties regarding changes," writing: "After six years of the presence of three jurists in the Guardian Council, the responsibilities of Rahpeyk, Alizadeh, and Salimi will end, and in the coming days, the head of the judiciary must introduce his preferred jurists for membership in the Guardian Council to the Islamic Consultative Assembly so that with the determination of the new composition of the Guardian Council in the near future, the secretary and spokesperson of this council will also be elected by the members." The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published statements by Gholamhossein Esmaeili, the head of the Tehran judiciary, regarding the meeting of political and cultural figures with political prisoners, quoting him as saying: "Someone who has questioned everything about the system and the revolution and all the achievements of the system should not have their photo taken with them; this is a mockery of the system and government and is unacceptable." This newspaper, while publishing photos of the meeting of Mostafa Tajzadeh after his release from Evin prison with political figures such as Mostafa Moein, Hossein Fereydoun, Feizollah Arab-Sorkhi, Saeed Hajarian, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, and Reza Kiani, wrote that Tajzadeh, "one of whose crimes is insulting the Supreme Leader, has been welcomed by reformist media and some officials of this current and, unfortunately, the brother of the president." Kobra Asoupar in the newspaper Javan also compared the reformists' welcome of Mostafa Tajzadeh as a political prisoner with the behavior of principlists towards some imprisoned principlists accused of financial corruption, writing that if "Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Babak Zanjani were reformists, they would have been fully defended by their own faction, rather than being welcomed by principlists and even calling for action against Rahimi and Zanjani." Kayhan, in its Thursday headline, continued to expose "astronomical salaries," reporting that "managers of the Farabourse company received more than 185 million tomans in bonuses for their services last year, and managers of the Energy Exchange company received 168 million tomans." This newspaper referred to its sources about the salary slips as "public information" and wrote: "There is still much to complain about the supervisory bodies. Where do the Inspection Organization and the Court of Accounts stand in this matter? Do they have no role in organizing affairs? Should they also learn about the astronomical earnings of managers based on public information that reaches Kayhan?" The newspaper Jahane San'at reported on the low-income deciles' expectations for the distribution of food baskets, stating: "Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, announced a few days before the start of Ramadan that food baskets would be provided for the needy," but "many needy people still do not know whether they are included in this support plan or not." This newspaper reminded that "with the arrival of Ramadan, the business of food sellers flourishes, while the tables of low-income and working-class families, whose wage increases have always been less than inflation over the past decade, are getting smaller." The newspaper Shargh reported that "Yeghe Darani" was present in the open session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Tuesday "for an airport." According to this newspaper, "Ezzatollah Yousofian-Molla has been seeking to establish an airport on the lands of Gavdasht since 2014, as officials of the Agricultural Jihad say," but "the land he has chosen, for which he also requests a change of use, is 400 hectares of first-class agricultural land that is currently part of the Rice Research Center of the North and the livestock farm of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad in the Gavdasht area of Babol County." Shokufe Habibzadeh, in a report for the newspaper Shargh, wrote: "The point is that Yousofian-Molla, in a letter addressed to Hajati, the Minister of Agricultural Jihad for the construction of the airport, referred to this land as "uncultivated land," but officials of the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad say that "this land belongs to the Rice Research Center and livestock farm, where rice is cultivated and fodder is planted. These lands are of first-class agricultural quality, and changing their use is not advisable." The newspaper Siyasat Rooz reported on "the tripartite meeting of the defense ministers of Iran, Russia, and Syria in Tehran" in the coming days, stating: "We must not forget that the Syrian crisis and the emergence of ISIS have transformed the nature of Iran-Russia relations from a historically passive framework regarding each other's regional roles to an active framework based on regional cooperation and in the direction of securing geopolitical interests." Shahrvand highlighted the statements of Ali Akbar Pour Mohammad, the mayor of Rafsanjan, who announced that "in the past 15 months, that is, in 2015 and early 2016, about 8,000 stray dogs have been exterminated in this county." Shahrvand wrote that this news "caused an uproar after its publication in one of the newspapers in Kerman and circulated on social networks."