Resignation of the Head of the Pension Fund

The newspaper 'Jame'e Farda' has reported that the 'inability of the government to combat corruption' has led to the resignation of the head of the pension fund. It stated: 'Mahmoud Eslamiān, the head of the national pension fund, submitted his resignation to the Minister of Labor without providing any reasons and returned to the private sector.' According to the newspaper, the reason for Eslamiān's resignation, as observed by analysts, was 'despair over the effectiveness of the fight against corruption within his organization,' while 'just a few days ago at a press exhibition, he indirectly stated that there is no capacity within the government to combat widespread corruption.' 'Jame'e Farda' noted that 'one of the several reasons for the sudden and unexplained resignation of the head of the national pension fund, which the Minister of Labor described as fatigue, was the flight of Dimitris Kambis from the country,' as 'this Greek businessman received 250 million euros from the National Oil Tanker Company, belonging to the pension fund, during the tenure of Minister Behbahani in Ahmadinejad's government to build eight oil tankers and only delivered two tankers, failing to return the remaining funds under the pretext of sanctions.' The newspaper wrote that 'Iranian intelligence forces brought Dimitris Kambis back to the country, and the Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office arrested him, but he ultimately fled the country,' and 'this is just one of dozens of corruption cases open in the national pension fund, whose assets are blocked in companies like the National Oil Tanker Company.' The newspaper 'Sharq' in its front page on Monday titled 'Shooting at the Heart of Riyadh' wrote: 'On Saturday, the launch of a missile from Yemen at Riyadh International Airport in Saudi Arabia caused a new wave of accusations against Tehran,' and 'this incident prompted the first foreign reaction from Donald Trump, the President of the United States, who said: In my opinion, the attack (on Saudi Arabia) was carried out by Iran.' The newspaper pointed out that Badr al-Din al-Houthi (father of Hussein al-Houthi) came to Qom in 1994 to study religious sciences and stayed in Iran until 2002, and Hussein accompanied him on this trip. It reminded that 'they returned to Yemen in 2002. Hussein al-Houthi began training and preparing young people in northern Yemen and gained a leadership position among many youths,' but was killed during clashes with the Yemeni central government, and shortly thereafter, Abdul-Malik, another son of Badr al-Din, took over the leadership of the Houthis, now known as 'Ansar Allah,' who are currently engaged in war with Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the Yemeni army. According to 'Sharq,' Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, denied accusations of supplying missiles to Ansar Allah in Yemen, stating: 'We do not have the capability to transfer missiles there; the missiles are for themselves, which they have rebuilt and increased their range, and through this, they have avenged the blood of the oppressed martyrs of Yemen.' Meanwhile, 'Kayhan' in its front page on Monday titled 'Ansar Allah's Missile to Riyadh, Next Target: Dubai' wrote: 'Now it is Ansar Allah and the revolutionaries of Yemen who determine where the long-range ballistic missile should be targeted; perhaps Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, and Aramco will be the next targets, or perhaps Ansar Allah will turn the missile head towards the clean glass port of Dubai.' The newspaper 'Javan,' close to the Revolutionary Guards, also in its front page titled 'Yemeni Missile in the Saudi Prince's Bloodbath' wrote: 'While the Saudi princes' war with the detention of dozens of princes and Saudi officials was reaching its peak, Ansar Allah of Yemen fulfilled its repeated promises and targeted Riyadh and Najran with the launch of two missiles, making the instability of the Saudi government evident on both internal and external levels.' The newspaper 'Arman' in its editorial wrote: 'The remarks of senior Saudi officials indicate that they are seeking political and economic instability in Iran to prevent Western countries from investing in Iran and to stir up internal and national sentiments against us. Even the tunes coming from Iraq indicate that Mr. Haider al-Abadi, despite visiting Tehran, recently stated during a meeting with King Salman in Riyadh that: First, I am Arab, then Muslim, and thirdly Shia.' Ali Bigdeli in the editorial of 'Arman' emphasized that such a statement from Haider al-Abadi reflects the unfavorable regional atmosphere that is always accompanied by threats, stressing that in the current situation, 'we must be vigilant about our surroundings and even the events occurring at our borders, which have roots in external threats. In fact, we must carefully monitor the situation and, with composure, patience, and endurance, confront the waves of threats aimed at diminishing our influence and power in the region.' The editorial writer of this newspaper regarding the resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister to Ali Akbar Velayati's meeting with him, wrote: 'We must closely monitor all these events and reconsider our regional policy to prevent these threats. It seems that Ali Akbar Velayati's recent trip has been surprising in Arab circles and that a kind of ultimatum has likely occurred between Saad Hariri and Dr. Velayati.' Qasem Mirzaei Nikoo, a former member of the Revolutionary Guards and the Ministry of Intelligence, who is currently the representative of Damavand and Firuzkuh in the tenth parliament, during an interview with the newspaper 'Qanoon' emphasized that 'various conspiracies' prevented Ahmad Motavaselian, a senior IRGC commander who was kidnapped in Lebanon, from being 'freed,' explicitly stating: 'Mohsen Rezai caused Motavaselian not to be freed.' This representative, a former member of the Ministry of Intelligence, stated that the team sent to Lebanon for Motavaselian's release 'kidnapped a person named David Duj, the head of the American University of Beirut,' and 'brought him to Tehran with the help of Hezbollah,' but instead of exchanging him for Motavaselian, under Mohsen Rezai's orders, this hostage was taken by Mohsen Rafighdoost, and '21 Syrian officers were released, and a quantity of weapons that we wanted was given to us, and thus our hands were tied.' This former member of the Ministry of Intelligence, who served as 'Deputy for Special Inspection of the President' during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, referred to the distribution of the film 'Asr Ashura,' which depicted celebrations during Ashura attributed to supporters of Mohammad Khatami before the 1996 elections, stating: 'We identified all the factors involved in making this documentary and submitted a report to the reformist president, who, due to his modesty, only presented it to the leadership.' The newspaper 'Qanoon' also quoted Qasem Mirzaei Nikoo stating: 'We conducted investigations into the serial killings under the special inspection of the president (during Khatami's presidency). That special inspection report was what revealed what happened and where it originated from.' The newspaper 'Iran,' close to the government, reported on the 'change of the death sentence for the second and third defendants in the oil corruption case,' stating that Babak Zanjani's partners, Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi, were sentenced to 20 years in prison. The newspaper quoted Judge Moghiseh, the head of Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, stating: 'Hamid Fallah Heravi and Mehdi Shams, the second and third defendants in the oil corruption case, were each sentenced to 20 years in prison and the return of assets,' and 'this verdict is subject to appeal.' The newspaper 'Iran' noted that 'Babak Zanjani and his domestic partners were previously tried in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court,' stating: 'Judge Abolqasem Salavati, after holding 26 court sessions, identified these three as corruptors on earth and sentenced them to death, restitution of the National Iranian Oil Company's assets, and a fine of one-fourth of the money laundering,' but 'with the objections of the defendants' lawyers, the case was referred to the Supreme Court, which upheld Babak Zanjani's sentence but overturned the sentences of his partners and referred them to a parallel branch,' namely Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. The newspaper emphasized that 'Zanjani's death sentence has been upheld while his debt of 2.6 billion euros to the oil company remains unpaid.' The newspaper 'Etemad' dedicated a photo of itself to Hassan Rouhani and in a report titled 'The Challenge of Change' wrote: 'The twelfth government is about to reach its eightieth day, while Hassan Rouhani is facing a new challenge regarding his young voter base. This voter base, at least in some areas, believes that Rouhani has separated himself from them in his second term and that the Rouhani of the election days is no longer present.' The newspaper stated that 'the criticisms of Rouhani's voter base began during the cabinet formation and peaked during the introduction of the Minister of Science,' writing: 'Hassan Rouhani, who loudly criticized the isolation of Iran, the narrow-mindedness, the interference of military institutions in the economy, the international sanctions, and the opponents of the JCPOA during his election travels, has now formed a cabinet that, in the opinion of his supporters, is far from those statements.' The newspaper 'Etemad,' referring to the arrest of Hossein Fereydoun, Hassan Rouhani's brother, during the cabinet formation and the arrest of Mehdi Jahangiri, the brother of Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president, during the introduction of the Minister of Science, emphasized the 'youth' of Rouhani's dissatisfied supporters, stating: 'Older reformists, who have experienced the crises of the reformist government every nine days, know well that Hassan Rouhani and the country face bigger challenges that some of his promises may not be realized to solve those challenges. Or some of Rouhani's other promises may incur costs for the realization of other promises. Perhaps many still do not know that 'the necessity of structural economic reforms,' 'the water supply crisis,' and 'unemployment' are the three main challenges of the country in 2017.' The editorial of 'Etemad' also emphasized that 'anyone who understands the political power structure knows that politicians, especially a politician of Hassan Rouhani's stature, are never free from public votes,' stressing that 'national interests are more important than anything else, and if our actions and opinions are directed towards national interests, neither today nor tomorrow can anyone blame us,' and 'the tongues of the blame throwers will be silenced in a situation where they know he prioritizes national interests over anything else and values this precious opportunity to resolve major and sometimes deep-rooted problems,' and 'it does not matter if Rouhani is first or second if their priority is national interests.' 'Shadgan; Without Water and Money' is the title of a report in the newspaper 'Shahrvand' about 'the critical condition of Shadgan Wetland.' This newspaper wrote: 'The condition of Shadgan Wetland can be summarized in one word: 'crisis.' The constant repetition of this word has normalized the crisis in the eyes of others, but for Shadgan, the repetition of crisis means the certainty of death. This situation comes while the restoration program for Shadgan Wetland has been halted.' The newspaper 'Shahrvand,' referring to 'Shadgan Wetland in Khuzestan grappling with wastewater from fish farming and chemical and petrochemical industries and non-native species and dozens of other problems,' wrote: 'In this 15-year drought, the lack of water has exacerbated the situation. The head of the Environmental Protection Department of Shadgan County stated that the restoration program for this wetland has been halted due to a lack of financial resources, but the deputy for natural environment of the Khuzestan Environmental Protection Department said: Shadgan needs water resources before financial resources.' Abolfazl Abasht, the national director of the Iran Wetlands Protection Project at the Environmental Protection Organization, told this newspaper: 'The reason for the lack of water is that the water from the Jarahi River released from the Maroon Dam is diverted for other uses, including agriculture, after passing through several cities,' and of course, 'the story of Shadgan Wetland is no different from that of other wetlands in the country. If they say we do not have financial resources, this issue is raised in all areas, not just the environment. This is not a new issue for Shadgan. The Shadgan Wetland has not received any significant funding in the past two years.'