Reactions to the Execution of Sheikh Nimr in Iranian Newspapers

The newspaper Shargh reports on its front page under the title "The Test of Seyyed Hassan Khomeini" that "only two days remain until the second round of the Assembly of Experts exam, which is on January 5. In these two days, it will be revealed whether Seyyed Hassan Khomeini will decide to participate in the Ijtihad exam or not. This is the most important question that has generated a specific media wave seeking an answer since Seyyed Hassan's candidacy was announced. This wave, which has targeted the attacks and defamations against him since the announcement of his candidacy, seems to aim to cast doubt on the clerical background of Imam Khomeini's grandson by raising the issue of the necessity for Seyyed Hassan to participate in the Ijtihad exam." The newspaper notes that "in recent days, a rumor circulated on social media that Ayatollah Momen, a member of the Guardian Council, told Seyyed Hassan Khomeini that he does not need to participate in the Ijtihad exam," and states: "Ayatollah Momen's office denied this rumor with a statement on Saturday," adding that "although this statement is short and only contains a denial, its other side carries the message of the necessity for Seyyed Hassan to participate in the exam on January 5." The newspaper Iran reports on its front page, quoting the First Vice President, that "cash subsidies will not be stopped." According to this newspaper, Eshaq Jahangiri stated: "Next year, no matter how much oil prices drop, cash subsidies will not be stopped, and only those individuals from the subsidy list who are part of the upper deciles of society will be removed." The First Vice President also mentioned: "It seems that the file for lifting sanctions will be concluded within the next 18 days." The execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia, has received widespread coverage in Iranian newspapers on Sunday. The newspaper Qanoon published photos of the attack on the Saudi consulate in Mashhad, stating: "People in Mashhad gathered in front of the Saudi consulate in their city, and angry protesters set fire to the building of this consulate." The newspaper Etemad described it as the "execution of a Shia Sheikh" and reported that in Iran, "religious authorities, scholars, members of parliament, the Foreign Ministry, and political activists condemned the execution of Sheikh Nimr by Saudi Arabia." Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Kayhan newspaper, in an editorial titled "The Last Line and the Last Wire," called for an attack on Saudi princes and officials and military centers, writing: "It is the duty of all Muslims to confront the princes, officials, and military centers of Al Saud in Saudi Arabia in a manner exactly similar to the Palestinian revolutionaries' confrontation with the occupying Zionists." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, also dedicated the entire main half of its Sunday issue to the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, describing it as "Saudi suicide." Mohammad Ali Sobhani, a former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, in an editorial in Shargh, described Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Nimr as "fanning the flames of sectarian differences" but emphasized that "creating emotional and sentimental spaces can lead to hasty and erroneous decisions" and "we should not forget that the ultimate solution to regional problems is dialogue." The newspaper Jahan San'at reported on its front page that the price of the dollar has risen to 3700 tomans, stating: "The upward slope of the exchange rate is increasing every day while the market is looking forward to the implementation of the JCPOA from mid-January." The newspaper Shahrvand reported, quoting Alireza Nourouzi, head of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Department of the Ministry of Health, about the "establishment of 150 alcohol addiction treatment centers." This newspaper also reported that "according to the latest global indicators released, Iran ranks 132 out of 133 countries in water resource management." The editorial in Kayhan reported on the global condemnation of the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, describing him as "the leader of Shias in Saudi Arabia" and stating: "Al Saud has dug its own grave." Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan, wrote: "Without the slightest doubt, Al Saud, if not more criminal than the Zionists, is no different from them; therefore, it is the duty of all Muslims to confront the princes, officials, and military centers of Al Saud in Saudi Arabia in a manner exactly similar to the Palestinian revolutionaries' confrontation with the occupying Zionists." The representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Kayhan concluded this editorial by stating: "One should hope that the Saudi princes, who occasionally go to America and European countries for pleasure and enjoyment, will become the target of revenge for the unjustly spilled blood of the martyr, Ayatollah Nimr, and the innocent women and children of Yemen, Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, and other crimes and killings by Al Saud." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, also dedicated the entire main half of its Sunday issue to the execution of Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia, describing it as "Saudi suicide." This newspaper reported: The Saudi Ministry of Interior officially announced the execution of 47 individuals, including "Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia." According to this statement, these individuals were executed on Saturday morning in 12 regions including Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, Eastern Province, Qassim, Ha'il, Northern Borders, Asir, Al-Jawf, Najran, Al-Baha, and Tabuk. The newspaper Javan emphasized that "Al Saud, which cannot withstand internal opposition, has intensified its repressive actions against the Shia in this country who are dissatisfied with the political situation in the country in recent years," stating: "Anyone familiar with the Saudi judicial system knows well that executions, especially in the most brutal manner, such as beheading and shooting, are common, and it is likely that these are carried out daily and weekly in this country. The fact that such media hype is arranged by the security apparatus of this country to announce the execution of a number of convicted individuals indicates concern about its consequences." This newspaper also quoted the statement of the Revolutionary Guards threatening Saudi Arabia to pay the price for the execution of Sheikh Nimr, stating: "The despised Saudi regime will pay the cost of this shameful act." This newspaper also evaluated the Saudi action in executing Sheikh Nimr under the current circumstances as a result of the escalation of "Al Saud's failures in the fields of regional developments, especially in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria" and "desperation," stating: "Some reports indicate the concerns of the security officials of this government about the reaction of the Shia in Eastern Arabia, the social base of Sheikh Nimr, which is of strategic and oil-rich importance to Al Saud." The newspaper Javan emphasized that "these days, Al Saud finds itself entangled in numerous regional and international challenges, and it is evident that the internal challenges of this regime are no less significant," stating: "Severe budget deficits resulting from the drop in global oil prices and the adoption of a relative austerity policy in the new calendar year, internal competitions among the princes of the royal court, and especially the dissatisfaction of some conservative factions in the Saudi court with the immature behaviors of the faction that has been in power for the past 10 months, the unrest in the administrative system of governance that has led to incidents such as the Mina disaster and the Jazan hospital, and the fear of becoming a victim of rogue Takfiri terrorists all indicate bad days for the political regime and its poor condition." This newspaper noted that "in the consecutive years of selling crude wealth and oil, many truths about this land and its rulers have been overshadowed, preventing the reality of many issues from being seen," stating: "It seems that the Saudis have now reached a critical and fateful stage; a stage full of major and irreparable mistakes." The avoidance of "hasty and erroneous decisions" to confront the "fire of sectarian differences" was emphasized by Mohammad Ali Sobhani, the former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, in an editorial in Shargh, describing Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Nimr as "fanning the flames of sectarian differences" but emphasizing that "creating emotional and sentimental spaces can lead to hasty and erroneous decisions" and "we should not forget that the ultimate solution to regional problems is dialogue." This newspaper stated: "Saudi Arabia's action in executing Sheikh Nimr and 46 other political critics has shocked public opinion regionally and internationally. Although the death sentence for this political opponent had previously been issued in Saudi Arabia, few expected that the Saudis would take such an action." The editorial writer of Shargh pointed out that "this execution took place while the manner of issuing this sentence remains shrouded in ambiguity," stating: "Sheikh Nimr was an important regional figure and respected by a significant portion of Saudi citizens and people in the region. The manner of his arrest, trial, and sentencing is unacceptable from a human rights perspective." This newspaper emphasized that "this irresponsible action by Saudi Arabia will increase sectarian differences in the region," stating: "Regional governments should take steps to minimize these problems, which ultimately lead to more killings and violence in the region, and therefore, Saudi Arabia's action in executing Sheikh Nimr is irresponsible and not in line with the interests and security of the region and the Middle East." The former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon wrote that "Iran will undoubtedly condemn this action, but it seems that we should not forget that the ultimate solution to regional problems is dialogue," while simultaneously emphasizing that "creating emotional and sentimental spaces can lead to hasty and erroneous decisions" and "officials in regional countries should not forget that controlling terrorism is a public duty, and the greatest danger today to the Muslim community and the world is the division and blind terrorism that the region and the world are witnessing." The dollar is at the brink of 3700 tomans; the government gains 8 trillion tomans from the currency bubble. The newspaper Jahan San'at reported on its front page that the price of the dollar has risen to 3700 tomans, stating: "The upward slope of the exchange rate is increasing every day while the market is looking forward to the implementation of the JCPOA from mid-January." According to this newspaper, "the rise in the dollar price to 3700 tomans ahead of the JCPOA implementation contradicts the policies of unifying the exchange rate and the actions of the Central Bank, as the eleventh government has prevented severe fluctuations in the currency for the first two years of its activity, but now with the improvement of political and economic conditions, the tide has turned, and the currency market is moving contrary to the government's economic policies." Jahan San'at pointed out the "approaching end of the year and severe reductions in oil revenues" and of course "the severe shortage of government resources" in the final months of the year as reasons for the increase in the dollar price, stating that these factors "strengthen the suspicion of currency rate manipulation by the government to compensate for the budget deficit, and for this reason, the currency market started the first day of the current week with an upward trend; the dollar reached 3700 tomans in the early hours of yesterday's market but ended trading at 3685 tomans." This newspaper reported that "this time the rise in the dollar price coincided with the New Year," and "in the currency market, the dollar, which reached 3700 tomans in the early hours of Saturday, continued to trade at 3685 tomans, the euro decreased by 23 tomans to 4005 tomans, and the dirham fell by three tomans to 1007 tomans," while "the official exchange rate also took an upward trend and exceeded the rate proposed by the government in the 95 budget, with the official dollar rate on Saturday reaching 3014 tomans, which is an increase of 12 rials compared to Thursday, and the pound decreased by 121 rials to 4453 tomans, and the euro decreased by 191 rials to 3274 tomans." The increase in the "discrepancy between the free dollar and the budgeted dollar" is a noteworthy point that is evident in the currency market these days, and this newspaper stated: "The greater the discrepancy between the free dollar and the budgeted dollar this year (2850 tomans), the more it will be to the detriment of the people and to the benefit of the government, as the profits from this price difference go into the government's pockets." Jahan San'at also reminded that "the government proposed a dollar rate of 2997 tomans to the parliament in the next year's budget" and wrote, "The question is, when the dollar is proposed at this price in the budget, why should the free currency be priced at the brink of 3700 tomans?" This newspaper pointed out the growing currency bubble, stating: "The dollar was priced at 3685 tomans on the last working day of the previous week, meaning the discrepancy between the budgeted dollar price for 94 and the free dollar has reached 835 tomans, and with this price difference, if the Central Bank sells 10 billion dollars at the free rate throughout the year, it will gain more than 8 trillion tomans from the difference in the free currency rate." Activities of six thousand drug addiction treatment centers; "Establishment of 150 alcohol addiction treatment centers." The newspaper Shahrvand reported, quoting Alireza Nourouzi, head of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Department of the Ministry of Health, about the "establishment of 150 alcohol addiction treatment centers." Alireza Nourouzi, head of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Department of the Ministry of Health, told Shahrvand that "regarding whether we need to establish a specialized center for alcohol or whether these services should be provided in the existing centers, extensive discussions were held in the Ministry of Health. Ultimately, the second method was chosen due to cultural and economic considerations. Accordingly, treatment services for alcohol addiction will be provided in general addiction treatment centers." This health official stated: "In the first phase, 150 selected centers that have the necessary qualifications will begin the pilot project for alcohol addiction treatment." Alireza Nourouzi pointed out that "alcohol, after opiates and other substances, is a significant issue in addiction treatment.