Political Aftershock of Vahid Haghaniyan's Remarks

The newspaper Etemad published a photo of Vahid Haghaniyan, the Deputy for Special Affairs of the Supreme Leader's Office, showing him coming out from behind a curtain, with the headline "Political Aftershock" stating: "A video of Vahid Haghaniyan has made headlines." The newspaper noted that "until now, perhaps only frames of photos of him and lines of news about his presence in the media were published," adding: "This time, it's not that he preferred his remarks to circulate and be judged in social media, but as he claimed on Friday, 'unintentionally' a few seconds of his sharp words against the First Vice President of the Republic circulated in cyberspace." According to Etemad, in this film, Vahid Haghaniyan commented on the statements of Eshaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Hassan Rouhani, regarding the extensive destruction of Mehr housing in the Kermanshah earthquake, saying: "They politicized it. They quickly went after Mehr housing... May God curse the First Vice President of the Republic, Mr. Jahangiri... He planted the first political seed and quickly announced Mehr housing in the resistant economy meeting... What does it have to do with it? 10 to 12 million people living in Mehr housing are being unsettled... There is no problem with Mehr housing. 27 experts from the Zanjan Engineering System came and said there is no problem; a 7.6 magnitude earthquake is terrifying... It destroys everything." The newspaper emphasized that in this film, "a man in a green raincoat with square glasses and thinning hair in a small group, without special protective guard, is depicted as one of the influential commanders of the Leader's House, cursing and damning the First Vice President of the Republic in Qasr-e Shirin and Sarpol-e Zahab." It noted that this image is of General Vahid Haghaniyan, who traveled to the earthquake-affected province of Kermanshah on Thursday. He "previously visited the victims of the Yurt Mine in Golestan in the same capacity, wore rescue clothing, and talked with the miners of Yurt," and even "a few months before that, alongside Ghalibaf, who was still the mayor of Tehran in January 2017, went to Ferdowsi Street to specially investigate the extinguishing of the Plasco fire." Etemad emphasized that it can be said that since the 1990s, the days of Vahid Haghaniyan's prominence in the political space of the country have increased, stating: "It seems that something has been added to his responsibility, as now he is more than just coming and going to the Ministry of Interior during elections in times of crisis, a 'special envoy.'" The newspaper Arman, on its front page titled "Pressure from Networks Against Haghaniyan," wrote that Haghaniyan's "sharp and unprecedented criticism" of Eshaq Jahangiri regarding the destruction of Mehr housing in the Kermanshah earthquake has faced reactions from social media users. According to this newspaper, after the release of the video of his remarks against Eshaq Jahangiri, Haghaniyan stated in an interview with Fars News Agency on Sunday: "On Saturday, I was in Qasr-e Shirin to assess the situation of the earthquake victims, and I made remarks in a limited gathering of jihadists that apparently offended the esteemed First Vice President of the Republic, while I have worked with him for 25 years and had no intention of insult or disrespect. Those remarks were made in a private gathering and were not meant for publication; however, these are realities that we should not politicize such issues." Ali Soufi, a reformist figure, wrote in a note in the Arman newspaper titled "Symbol of Reformism, Target of Rivals," that Eshaq Jahangiri's candidacy in the 2017 presidential elections was a precursor to his candidacy in 2021, and "therefore, it must be acknowledged that with the current positions against Jahangiri by some principlists, the competition for 2021 has already begun." The columnist noted that "Mr. Jahangiri will likely face greater challenges in the future, as his power in the cabinet has significantly decreased, and on the other hand, opponents of the reformist movement are trying to diminish the acceptance of the representative of reformists in the government with effective institutions as well." "Now, after the tactical position changes of Hassan Rouhani in the cabinet arrangement, Jahangiri is more than ever targeted by opponents of the reformist movement, and this destruction will continue until 2021." The newspaper Bahar, in a note titled "Why Avoid Apologizing," wrote: "The release of a video of Haghaniyan's sharp remarks against the First Vice President of the Republic, made in a private gathering, has caused seemingly widespread negative reactions in cyberspace. These reactions ultimately led to clarifications from Haghaniyan, clarifications that were more of an excuse-making and a repetition of the same statements made in that private gathering in a calmer tone rather than an apology for using inappropriate words about Jahangiri." The newspaper Sharq also reported on the "Mehr Housing Controversy," reviewing Haghaniyan's remarks against Eshaq Jahangiri, and highlighted the reaction of Ezzatollah Zarghami to Haghaniyan's comments, quoting the former head of the state broadcasting organization as saying: "The person I have known over the years has always prayed for officials, even by name and in night prayers. I have learned from him that if I cannot express good content in a good manner, it is better to leave it altogether." This newspaper wrote that "on Saturday afternoon, the same day the video of Haghaniyan's remarks was circulating on social media, a meeting of the National Crisis Management Headquarters regarding the earthquake in the western country was held, chaired by the First Vice President of the Republic, where Eshaq Jahangiri stated that 'in such cases where newly constructed buildings or reinforced structures are destroyed, it means that there are issues, and contractors and builders of such buildings should be held accountable for not adhering to safety measures in construction.'" The newspaper Khorasan reported with the headline "Clarification of the Statistics of Mehr Housing Victims in Kermanshah" that after the earthquake in Kermanshah, "ILNA news agency, in an interview with Mojtaba Nik-Kardar, the Deputy for Urban Development of Kermanshah, reported an increase in the casualties of Mehr housing to 100 people," but on Sunday, November 28, the Deputy for Urban Development of Kermanshah denied some media's quotes from him regarding the increase of casualties in Mehr housing to 100 people, stating that this figure only pertains to self-owned Mehr housing. According to this newspaper, Mojtaba Nik-Kardar stated: "In self-owned Mehr housing complexes, based on local reports, 100 people were killed, but in the government-built Mehr housing known as Shahid Shiroudi complex, only two people were killed." Kayhan, in its front page titled "Political Labels to Evade Accountability from Natural Disasters to Economic Corruption," wrote: "In the recent earthquake in the western country, when all institutions, along with the people, came to the forefront to alleviate the suffering of the victims, suddenly the First Vice President of the Republic linked the damages to Mehr housing and called for accountability from the builders of these buildings, and the chained and anti-revolutionary media also adopted this line." This newspaper also wrote: "In the bitter and regrettable events of recent years, from the Plasco fire to the devastating earthquake in the western country, some have instead of empathizing with the victims and fulfilling their responsibilities, engaged in political games for settling scores." The newspaper Khorasan reported on "The End of the Sit-in of Baghaei and Associates" stating: "Hamid Baghaei, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, and Habibollah Khorasani, three associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose sit-in at the Abdul Azim shrine led to the desecration of this sacred place, issued a statement reiterating their insults to the judiciary and announced that their sit-in would be halted until the appropriate conditions are met." This newspaper noted that "these individuals, along with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, protested what they called 'seeking justice in the judicial process of their case' by sitting in at Abdul Azim shrine since last Thursday," recalling that "on that same morning, the third session of the trial of Hamid Baghaei, the former Vice President of the Tenth Government, was held without his presence." The newspaper Bahar, on its front page titled "Fake Freedom-Seeking," mentioned that various analyses have been presented regarding Ahmadinejad's and his associates' recent behaviors, stating that Ahmadinejad and his close associates "do not shy away from sharp and sometimes insulting protests against senior officials of the country and easily engage in actions and statements that if half of it were done by the reformist movement, they would face harsh and reproachful responses from decision-makers." This newspaper wrote that "the first analysis is based on the point that senior officials of the previous government, due to their inability to provide substantiated and legal defense in the opened cases against them in the judiciary, have found all documents against themselves, and are thus in a kind of forward escape." In the second analysis, some believe that the former president and his close associates are well aware of the major mistakes and violations they have committed, and as a result, they seek to portray themselves as victims by engaging in a kind of populism and riding the wave of dissatisfaction from certain segments of society against some decision-making institutions in the country. The Bahar newspaper emphasized that "the third analysis, which is more proposed by the reformist movement in the country that has suffered the most damage from Ahmadinejad's eight years, is based on the view that the former president is fabricating concepts such as freedom-seeking." The newspaper Sazandegi reported with the headline "10 Million Toman Fine; The Verdict of the Kiarostami Case" that "one year and four months after the death of Abbas Kiarostami, the controversial medical case related to him has reached its conclusion, and according to the statements of the Kiarostami family's lawyer, the treating physician of this late filmmaker has been sentenced to pay five percent of the full blood money; an amount that, considering the full blood money of 210 million tomans, amounts to about 10 million and 500 thousand tomans." The newspaper Jameh Farda reported on the "Financial Statements of the Foundation of the Oppressed," which has been presented for the first time, stating: "The Foundation of the Oppressed Islamic Revolution earned 28,360 billion tomans in operational income in 1395," and "the accumulated profit of the foundation in the consolidated balance sheet of 95 reached 13,844 billion tomans." This newspaper noted that "recently, the general assembly of the Foundation of the Oppressed Islamic Revolution was held with the presence of the Board of Trustees, and the audited report of the consolidated financial statements of the group and the main unit of the foundation was reviewed," stating that according to the audit of the foundation's financial statements by the General Audit Organization of the country, "the Foundation of the Oppressed Islamic Revolution earned 28,360 billion tomans in operational income in 1395," of which "6,230 billion tomans was identified as gross profit, 3,313 billion tomans as operational profit, and 2,692 billion tomans as net profit." According to Jameh Farda, "the consolidated net profit" of the Foundation of the Oppressed "in 95 compared to 94, which was 3,481 billion tomans, shows a decrease," which "the increase in the cost of operational income along with the growth of selling, administrative, general expenses, and doubtful receivables caused the decline in net profit in this comparison." This newspaper noted that "the Foundation of the Oppressed provided 534 billion tomans in non-repayable aid in 95," stating that "about 326 billion tomans of this amount was paid to the supervision and auditing office of the Leader's Office. 85 billion tomans was also allocated for the distribution of clothing, vouchers, gifts, and health plans, and 63 billion tomans was related to cultural, welfare, and educational services." According to this report, regarding the Plasco building incident, which was confiscated after the revolution and transferred to the Foundation of the Oppressed, this foundation "signed an agreement on February 7, 1395, with the governorate, the presidential office, representatives of guilds, and Bank Parsian, paying 2 billion tomans for the temporary rent of the owners of the Plasco building's rights and also paid 5.5 billion tomans for expert assessment and investigation regarding the incident based on the judiciary's announcement." The Jameh Farda newspaper reminded that "the Foundation of the Oppressed uses tax exemptions" and "based on the proposal of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance on February 29, 1989, and according to the third clause of Article 2 of the Direct Tax Law, which was approved on February 27, 2001, and the circular of the Leader's Office on July 23, 1997, it was approved that the Foundation of the Oppressed would benefit from tax exemptions."