Reformists' Electoral Program for 200 Parliamentary Seats

The newspaper Etemad reported, citing Hassan Rasouli, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baran Foundation, about the "reformists' plan for 200 parliamentary seats." The newspaper Arman reported the designation of the IRGC and Basij as "agents of enjoining good" and the transfer of "permission for issuing rally permits from the Ministry of Interior to the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong." The newspaper Khabar reported on the government's proposal for "private sector gasoline imports" as part of the 2015 budget bill, stating that "the permission for non-governmental entities to import gasoline is awaiting parliamentary approval." The newspaper Shargh reported on the delegation of the responsibility for removing high-income individuals from the list of subsidy recipients to the "provinces," noting that "the executive branch has concluded that the responsibility for identifying high-income individuals should be assigned to the provinces, and to encourage provincial officials to implement this decision, an incentive has been considered whereby the more subsidies provinces can eliminate, the released funds will be allocated to the respective provinces." The newspaper Iran highlighted "ten proposals by Hassan Rouhani to combat terrorism and extremism," stating that "the President of the Islamic Republic, at the opening ceremony of the first international conference on the world against violence and extremism, emphasized the necessity of a collective fight against violence and extremism, urging all countries in the region to work together to create a coalition and rational policy-making towards a peaceful and secure Middle East." This newspaper noted the "drop in oil prices to $65" due to the price war, stating that "after Saudi Arabia, Iraq has also slashed its exports." The newspaper reported the consequences of the global oil price drop for Iran's economy, mentioning that "following Saudi Arabia's discounts to its Asian and American oil customers, Iraq has followed this strategy and disrupted the oil market," and "as the second-largest OPEC oil producer, it has brought the price of Basra light oil to its lowest for Asian customers in at least 11 years." The newspaper Shahrvand reported that "according to the statistics from the Medical Examiner's Office, 22 people have lost their lives in rail accidents in the past seven months, of which 18 were men and 4 were women." The newspaper Javan quoted Abbas Araghchi, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, stating that "despite some changes in the demands and red lines of the West, we will not cross our red lines under any circumstances." The newspaper Kayhan quoted the head of the Parliament's Article 90 Commission stating that "the 12 trillion tomans corruption is not a reality." This newspaper quoted Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar saying that "the essence of the matter was the financial flow between three accounts, and official sources did not confirm withdrawals from the accounts or abuses as claimed." With the parliament's approval, the Basij and IRGC became agents of enjoining good for "practical action." The newspaper Arman reported on the designation of the IRGC and Basij as "agents of enjoining good" and the transfer of "permission for issuing rally permits from the Ministry of Interior to the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong." According to this newspaper, on Tuesday in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, "two decisions" were made regarding the support plan for enjoining good and forbidding wrong; "one was the designation of agents for enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and the other was the delegation of permit issuance to an entity other than the Ministry of Interior. Ultimately, after extensive discussions, the parliament determined that the Basij and IRGC would be the agents of enjoining good." The newspaper Arman wrote that in the Tuesday session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, "representatives agreed with the proposal of Ali Motahari, the representative of Tehran, and it was decided that the Basij and IRGC would be the agents for practical action in enjoining good and forbidding wrong, and based on the approved material proposed by Ali Motahari, the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong would utilize the forces of the Basij and IRGC for instances requiring practical action, and of course, training courses would be held for these forces and special permits would be issued for them." According to this newspaper, the representatives of the ninth parliament also determined the members of the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong, which consists of 17 members, including one of the temporary Friday prayer leaders of Tehran elected by the Policy Council of Friday Prayer Leaders as the head of the headquarters, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Intelligence, the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Education, the Minister of Science, the Minister of Industry, two members of parliament proposed by the Cultural Commission and elected by the parliament as supervisory members, the authorized representative of the head of the judiciary, and the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization. The head of the Islamic Propagation Organization, the commander of the police force, the head of the Basij Organization, the secretary of the Friday Prayer Leaders' Headquarters, two jurists elected by the Supreme Council of Islamic Seminaries, one female jurist elected by the Supreme Council of Women’s Islamic Seminaries, and the secretary of the headquarters elected by the head of the headquarters will also be other members of the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong. The newspaper Arman also noted that it is unclear whether the Basij and IRGC will implement the policies communicated to them by the members of the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong or whether they will form their own policy-making councils and execute their performance according to those resolutions. According to this report, the representatives of the parliament also approved that "provincial and county headquarters for enjoining good and forbidding wrong can issue permits for gatherings and rallies on issues of enjoining good and forbidding wrong at the request of individuals and legal entities" and "a copy of the issued permit will be sent to the governorate, district governorate, and county administration to ensure the security of the participants," while according to Article 17 of this plan, the Headquarters for Enjoining Good and Forbidding Wrong will also be responsible for overseeing the proper implementation of the law, promoting the culture of enjoining good and forbidding wrong in society, and issuing permits for establishing non-governmental organizations. The newspaper Arman, while referring to the government's opposition to some sections of the support plan for enjoining good and forbidding wrong, wrote that while the parliament has introduced the Basij and IRGC as agents of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, on October 21 of this year, Hassan Rouhani, during his provincial visit to Zanjan, stated that "I hope the conclusion of the parliament's work on the issue of enjoining good and forbidding wrong will lead to greater cohesion and unity in society and guide the entire society towards goodness, as from the Islamic perspective, one group is not responsible for enjoining good, but all Muslims bear the duty of enjoining good and forbidding wrong." This newspaper reminded that the President of the Hope and Prudence government had said, "Let it not be that tomorrow, when there will be no one, under the beautiful slogan of enjoining good and forbidding wrong, insecurity begins in our society because the essence of good is security and it has been raised for brotherhood, human dignity, and respect for one another, so let us not reduce the concept of wrong to a single issue and consider lies, slander, bribery, and fraudulent scholarships as not wrong." The government's proposal for "allowing private sector gasoline imports" is awaiting parliamentary approval. The newspaper Khabar reported on the government's proposal for "private sector gasoline imports" as part of the 2015 budget bill, stating that "the permission for non-governmental entities to import gasoline is awaiting parliamentary approval." According to this newspaper, "the 2015 budget bill has at least on paper shown a positive attitude towards the private oil sector. The government has proposed that starting next year, the private sector be allowed to import gasoline and petroleum products, whereas previously only the Ministry of Oil had the authority to import gasoline." The newspaper Khabar emphasized that "the government aims to achieve two objectives with this proposal. By doing this, it is outsourcing the activities of the Ministry of Oil to the private sector in line with the implementation of Article 44, and on the other hand, critics of gasoline quality, who argue that the government is both an importer and a quality controller, will be somewhat appeased." Arash Najafi, the vice president of the Energy Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, assessed this clause of the budget bill as a step towards "first-world approaches" and told Khabar that "this gasoline will likely be offered at a price commensurate with the current price of gasoline in the country since the government's policies are aimed at controlling inflation and are not particularly looking to increase fuel prices significantly." The vice president of the Energy Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce spoke about the practical effects of the government's proposal for the private sector's entry into imports, stating that "the ability of the private sector to import gasoline is a good proposal. This will make gasoline prices competitive, and just as the private sector can manage gas stations and offer more facilities to customers at some stations, they can also import fuel of higher quality into the country." Arash Najafi pointed out that "around the world, fuel is offered at competitive prices, and gas stations differ in quality and price of fuel," regarding the quality of imported fuel, he stated that "the budget bill states that the minimum quality of imported gasoline should be Euro 4, so we can also import Euro 5 gasoline. Moreover, the quality of Euro 4 varies from refinery to refinery, and its price is also different. This allows car owners to choose what type of gasoline they want to consume. There are cars in Iran whose gasoline standard is Euro 5, but currently, there is no option to provide suitable gasoline for them." Khabar quoted the international affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company regarding the government's proposal for private sector gasoline imports, stating that "if this bill is approved, the private sector will import gasoline alongside the Ministry of Oil and with private funding." According to this newspaper, "what is mentioned about the price of imported gasoline in the budget bill is limited to stating that the supply of imported gasoline in the country will be without subsidies," and Arash Najafi, the vice president of the Energy Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, also mentioned regarding the probable price of gasoline supplied by the private sector in Iran, stating that "the government is moving towards liberalizing prices, including energy carriers, and this is one of the prerequisites for that. We cannot expect that gasoline will be allowed to be offered at free prices overnight. The government, according to what is stated in the budget bill and its inflation control plans, is not particularly looking to raise fuel prices at this stage, but logically this gasoline cannot be offered much more expensively than regular gasoline." The newspaper Khabar noted that "the mechanisms for this import are still unclear, but the government will likely allocate discounts and credits to importers to enable them to offer gasoline at a reasonable price to consumers." Regarding the "specific condition for the private sector's gasoline imports," Arash Najafi, the vice president of the Energy Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, told Khabar that "probably specific economic groups with special permits will be able to import gasoline." The "reformists' electoral program for 200 parliamentary seats" was reported by the newspaper Etemad, citing Hassan Rasouli, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baran Foundation. According to this newspaper, Hassan Rasouli, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baran Foundation and the Hope of Iranians, during a speech at a meeting of the Islamic Youth Party regarding "reformists and the tenth parliamentary elections," referred to the goals and strategies of the reformists in the upcoming parliamentary elections, stating: "The reformists aim to secure 200 seats in the tenth parliament, and considering the positive experience of the 2013 elections and the lessons learned from the fragmentation of reformists in the 2005 presidential elections, the index, axis, and leadership of the reformist front will be Mohammad Khatami, and all reformists have accepted to participate in the political arena with his leadership, and Khatami will be the final arbiter." Hassan Rasouli also stated: "Mohammad Khatami will help achieve consensus among reformists through democratic mechanisms and collective decision-making with his advisory assembly, which consists of prominent figures and various reformist parties and groups." This member of the Board of Trustees of the Baran Foundation, which operates under the supervision of Mohammad Khatami, emphasized that "the reformists do not view parliamentary seats as bait, and any electoral activity and candidacy in this election will be based on collective wisdom," and after the experience of the 2013 elections, "the reformists learned to move together, and with unity and coordination among reformists, their victory is largely guaranteed." According to the newspaper Etemad, Shahbanoo Amani, a former parliament member, also stated during the meeting of the Islamic Youth Party that "the reformists intend to collaborate and move jointly with the supporters of the government in the upcoming elections," stating: "Experience shows that wherever people have participated widely in presidential elections and elected a president, they have also helped the government in parliamentary elections and sent representatives who are aligned and sympathetic to the government to the parliament." This reformist political activist emphasized that "contrary to the narratives of the media opposing the government and reformists, the strategic goal of the reformists in the elections is not to circumvent the government but to assist President Hassan Rouhani." Shahbanoo Amani also reported on "the beginning of the reformists' efforts for the upcoming elections," stating: "Both in the provinces and in Tehran, the reformists have begun their meetings to coordinate for the tenth parliamentary elections, and maximum participation of the people will shape a reformist or reformist-aligned parliament." The delegation of the responsibility for removing high-income individuals from the list of subsidy recipients to the provinces was reported by the newspaper Shargh. This newspaper reported that "after a year and a half of emphasizing the removal of high-income individuals from the subsidy recipient list, as quoted by Gholamali Jafarzadeh Iman Abadi, a member of the Budget and Planning Commission of the parliament from the government spokesperson, the executive branch has concluded that the responsibility for identifying high-income individuals should be assigned to the provinces, and the government has considered an incentive to encourage provincial officials to implement this decision."