Reactions to Economic Warning from Four Ministers

Hassan Rouhani's remarks at the Rural Day conference have received widespread coverage in newspapers. The Arman newspaper quoted Rouhani stating, "Mohammad Javad Zarif is a national hero." The Shahrvand newspaper, alongside a photo of Rouhani on its front page, quoted him saying, "Did you see what lies did to the country?" The Aftab Yazd newspaper assessed Rouhani's statements on Tuesday as showing his "discontent with the Parliament," quoting him as saying, "If we achieved a great historical honor in the nuclear negotiations, it is due to the people's presence; of course, we will overlook some remarks, to which I will respond in due time." Meanwhile, the Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, highlighted Sadegh Larijani's remarks as an implicit criticism of Mohammad Javad Zarif's meeting with former U.S. President Barack Obama, quoting the head of the judiciary as saying, "Our advice to government officials and the diplomatic apparatus is to adjust their behavior according to that of the Americans and understand that you cannot be friends with an enemy." The Arman newspaper described the Parliament's decision to reduce the members of Tehran's City Council from 31 to 21 as a "shock to the city councils." The Etelaat newspaper also reported that "the Parliament has reduced the number of members of Tehran's City Council by 10," adding that according to the new parliamentary decision, "the impeachment of mayors has become more difficult." The Iran newspaper reported on the increasingly complex "mystery of oil sales in Babak Zanjani's trial" during the third session of his trial. This newspaper quoted the Tehran prosecutor as saying, "A resolution was issued and signed by three ministers [of the previous government] stating that 14 percent of oil profits would be paid to the Niko Company through the FII Bank, where Babak Zanjani and H.F.H. were present, but the noteworthy point is that these ministers signed the resolution alone and it was not through the Special Presidential Headquarters, and I ask the judge to verify this." The Qanoon newspaper also reported that during the reading of part of the indictment in the third session of Babak Zanjani's trial, the role of Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran prosecutor and head of the Social Security Organization during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, was mentioned, stating, "Babak Zanjani, upon reaching Saeed Mortazavi and with the support of H.F.H., decides to purchase a number of shares of the subsidiaries of the Social Security Organization worth up to 4 billion euros, and in this regard, Saeed Mortazavi and Babak Zanjani sign a memorandum of understanding where Mortazavi represents the Social Security Organization and Babak Zanjani is the buyer." According to this newspaper, the indictment also noted that "one of the questionable points is Babak Zanjani's excessive haste in processes formed, including contracts with the Tehran Municipality." The Etelaat newspaper, in its front page titled "Awaiting a No to Impeachment," wrote: "Within 24 hours of the impeachment session for the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, the signatories of this plan saw all hopes for his dismissal dimming," stating that "this is undoubtedly one of the least energetic impeachments in the history of Parliament." The Qanoon newspaper also described the impeachment plan of Abbas Akhoundi, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, as a "warning from hardliners to Sheikh Noor and Rouhani," stating that the impeachers want to "shoot two birds with one stone" by warning Hassan Rouhani and trying to take revenge on Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri by ousting his brother-in-law from the ministry. The Jahan San'at newspaper focused on the reactions to the letter from four ministers to Hassan Rouhani regarding economic conditions, quoting several economic experts as saying: "The President should declare a state of economic emergency." According to this newspaper, the letter written by four cabinet ministers warning the President about the dire state of the country's economy triggered an explosion of reactions from experts and economic activists, ranging from "calls for the ministers' resignation" to "the profit-seeking views of the letter's authors." Jahan San'at quoted Asadollah Asgaroladi, a member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, as saying, "The President should declare a state of economic emergency," while Hossein Raghfar, an economics professor at Alzahra University, stated, "Corruption, the influence of power and wealth institutions, price manipulation, alongside the presence of monopolies and quasi-monopolies, are among the most significant problems of Iran's economy," adding, "The government should play a more active role in solving current problems and should coordinate its banking system with the current economic conditions." The Bahar newspaper, while publishing a caricature of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on its front page with a report titled "The Desire for Return" about "the past to the present of the Stability Front and insistence on Ahmadinejad's return," wrote: "The desire for Ahmadinejad's return in the absence of a figure from the principlists who can have a mass base is an enticing option for the Stability Front and its other followers, such as the Martyrs' Society and the Pathfinders, around the figure of Mesbah Yazdi." The Shargh newspaper reported on the censorship of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in state television, stating: "Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani attended a ceremony commemorating the deceased pilgrims, held at the Imam Khomeini Hosseiniyeh with the presence of Ayatollah Khamenei," but state television "skillfully edited the footage in all news sections over the past 24 hours so that no viewer would realize that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani was also present at this ceremony." The news of the death of Fathollah Bina Yazd, a novelist and literary critic, has been reflected on the front pages of the Etelaat, Iran, and several other newspapers. The Iran newspaper referred to him as "a man whose concern was criticism and writing," stating: "Fathollah Bina Yazd, a writer and literary critic, passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 67." This newspaper also reported: "Abdolhasan Jalili, the former head of the Faculty of Literature at Tehran University, passed away on September 21 in obscurity." The Jahan San'at newspaper also reported on the funeral of Abdolrahim Jafari but noted: "The body of Abdolrahim Jafari, the founder of Amir Kabir Publishing, was buried in front of the closed doors of the Amir Kabir bookstore." According to this newspaper, Reza Yekarngian, the director of Khajasteh Publishing, mentioned during the funeral of Abdolrahim Jafari that the logo of Amir Kabir Publishing was designed by Abdolrahim Jafari himself and said: "This logo was born from Mr. Jafari's mind, and he also chose the name of Amir Kabir Publishing, which belonged to him. Therefore, when Amir Kabir Publishing was taken from him, I wish they had only returned the logo to him and continued with another logo so that everyone would know where Abdolrahim Jafari's place is and where others belong." The shock of the Parliament to the city councils: The Arman newspaper described the Parliament's decision to reduce the members of Tehran's City Council from 31 to 21 as a "shock to the city councils." This newspaper wrote: "Three years ago, the Parliament members approved a resolution to increase the number of members of the Tehran City Council considering the volume and diversity of the city, and after eight years of delay in the Parliament, the number of City Council members increased from 15 to 31, but on Tuesday morning, a strange event occurred in the Parliament that was unexpected and astonishing for the members of the Tehran City Council. The representatives agreed to reduce the number of City Council members from 31 to 21 without any prior explanation or clear reason." According to the Arman newspaper, based on the parliamentary resolution on Tuesday, the number of members of Tehran's City Council will decrease from 31 to 21, and regarding other cities, according to the latest census by the Statistical Center of Iran, the number of City Council members will be between 5 to 15. The Etelaat newspaper also reported in its Tuesday issue that "the Parliament has reduced the number of members of Tehran's City Council by 10," adding that according to the new parliamentary resolution, "the impeachment of mayors has become more difficult." According to the Etelaat newspaper, while the members of the fourth Tehran City Council had voiced calls for increasing the number of council members since last year, on Tuesday, the Parliament members approved a clause from the reform plan of the Islamic Council elections law, during the approval of the amendments to the law on the structure, duties, and elections of the Islamic Councils and the election of mayors, voting for a 30% reduction in the number of Tehran City Council members. Hamidreza Khaledi, a reporter for the Etelaat newspaper, noted that "the members of the Council and Internal Affairs Commission in the presentation of this plan in the open session stated that their reason for this severe political reduction in councils in large cities, especially in Tehran, was that the increase in the number of members has caused a lot of disagreements in the councils of large cities," but despite the criticism from the members of the Tehran City Council regarding this parliamentary resolution, "this amendment was approved on Tuesday, and given that it does not contradict Sharia and law, it is unlikely that the Guardian Council will oppose it." According to this newspaper, the proponents of the amendment that was approved by the Parliament, such as Mohammad Javad Kolivand, stated that "the excessive increase in members has caused a lot of disagreements in the councils of large cities," but on the other hand, "all members of the City Council object to this amendment and believe that this resolution will reduce the quality of oversight and the council's duties." The Etelaat newspaper emphasized that the parliamentary resolution on Tuesday "also has another clause regarding how to impeach the mayor by the council, which has received less attention," quoting Mohammad Javad Kolivand regarding this clause of the parliamentary resolution as saying: "In the mayor's impeachment amendment, efforts have been made to make the impeachment process more difficult so that mayors feel more secure and members are more careful in selecting mayors." Ismail Doosti, a member of the Tehran City Council, while criticizing this parliamentary resolution, pointed out the difficulty of the fourth City Council's work and told the Etelaat newspaper: "In this term, with 31 members and 5 commissions, we can hardly cope with the bills and proposals that come in and be present in the regions; now if the number of members is to be reduced to 21, certainly the quality of our work will also decline." This member of the Tehran City Council said: "Currently, Tehran has 31 representatives in the Parliament. How many times have these representatives been present in the dilapidated fabric? How much have they become familiar with the people and their problems face-to-face and solved them? How many times have they visited Farahzad? How many times have they visited mosques? ... So why don't they request a reduction in the number of representatives in the Parliament?" According to the Etelaat newspaper, Ismail Doosti, in response to whether there was any consultation with the council during the drafting of this plan, said: "We were not informed at all. Only it seems that Mehdi Chamran, the head of the City Council, attended their meetings and opposed this amendment and reduction, but the commission members did not pay attention to his reasons." Ali Saberi, a legal member of the Tehran City Council, also criticized the amendment to reduce the number of City Council members, stating: "When the urban population is so large, the management system and its administration should also be commensurate with that population. That is why the discussion of increasing the number of council members from 15 to 31 was raised several years ago until it was implemented in the fourth council." He described the Parliament's approach to passing the reduction of City Council members as "an insult to the members of this council" and said: "This method of approval is truly insulting," and the justification provided by the proponents of this amendment in the Parliament "is that the increase in the number of members makes the council more political, but I want to say the opposite. The fewer the number, the less the chance of independent candidates winning, and conversely, the more the possibility of selecting political figures; in fact, with this action, the political atmosphere of the council will be several times more political than today, and this is a significant affliction for the council." Regarding the Tehran City Council's reaction to the parliamentary resolution, Ali Saberi said: "This amendment has been approved, and there is nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is civil protest." Iqbal Shakri, the head of the Urban Development Committee of the Tehran City Council, also emphasized that "none of the members were informed during the preparation and drafting of this amendment," stating: "This was a hasty decision." He pointed out that reducing the number of City Council members "will severely weaken the council's oversight power and performance," saying: "It is obvious that the number of representatives should be divided according to the population and size of a city. Now why did the Parliament representatives make such a decision is a matter that truly raises many questions." "The resolution of three ministers of Ahmadinejad's government in the presence of Babak Zanjani": The Iran newspaper reported on the "mystery of oil sales in Babak Zanjani's trial" and quoted the Tehran prosecutor as saying: "A resolution was issued and signed by three [former government] ministers stating that 14 percent of oil profits would be paid to the Niko Company through the FII Bank, where Babak Zanjani and H.F.H. were present, but the noteworthy point is that these ministers signed the resolution alone and it was not through the Special Presidential Headquarters, and I ask the judge to verify this." According to this newspaper, during the third session of the trial of Babak Zanjani and two other defendants, the Tehran prosecutor read a letter from the oil billionaire who had exposed his partner and was also mentioned in the indictment.