Rising Airfare Prices: 'In the Name of the People, to the Benefit of Airlines'

The government-aligned newspaper Iran described the report of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as 'the final stamp on 12 years of nuclear dispute' in its front-page headline on Saturday, stating: 'Yukiya Amano's report, which indicates a clear end to the examination of contentious issues with Iran, has also been welcomed by U.S. officials to the extent that the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department announced that, based on the IAEA Director General's report, the U.S. is now ready to close the file on the 'possible military dimensions.' Ahmad Shirzad, a university professor and reformist figure, wrote in a note titled 'Amano's Report and the Future' in the Arman newspaper that the report contains elements that may not be to Iran's liking and may not be confirmed by Iran, but 'there is an important point that all Iranians should pay attention to; the IAEA will not simply grant absolution to any country.' He stated: 'The maximum confirmation from the IAEA will be that, up to this moment, there are no indications that Iran has deviated from its peaceful program, and the past file can be declared closed.' However, the Kayhan newspaper, in its front-page headline, referred to what it called 'the cheers and whistles of the U.S. and Israel for the IAEA report' and pointed to 'the opponent's trap,' stating: 'The IAEA Director General claimed in his report that Iran was involved in activities to build a nuclear bomb until 2009.' The Law newspaper published a survey of secretaries of reformist parties regarding gender quotas in elections, noting that 14 reformist organizations, including Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Reformist Policy Council, and others expressed their 'agreement' regarding the '30% quota for women.' Meanwhile, Ashraf Boroujerdi, the political deputy of the Union of Islamic Iran Nation, stated in an interview with the Bahar newspaper that 'the 10th Parliament is not principlist.' The Bahar newspaper, while publishing a report on 'liberalizing airfare prices,' assessed this action as an increase in airfare prices 'without improving quality,' stating: 'In the first phase of liberalizing airfare rates, the rates for 170 routes were freed, but the rates for 87 routes are still subject to the pricing of the aviation organization.' Maryam Irandoost, a former player of the Iranian women's national football team, spoke to the Law newspaper about her farewell match in 2013, saying: 'About 2,500 people attended my farewell match, but since some women had colored their faces and after the match appeared in public with the same excitement, problems arose. After that match, it was announced that controlling this number of women would not be easy for the organization, and they raised the ticket prices to 5,000 tomans and announced a ceiling of 100 spectators for each match. These decisions discouraged women from attending stadiums, and now that the ceiling on the number of spectators has been lifted and tickets are 3,000 tomans, only 200 people come to the stadium.' The Shahre Vahdat newspaper, while publishing a report on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, pointed to 'the lack of appropriate social and cultural structures in dealing with persons with disabilities.' The Iran newspaper emphasized that 'in Tehran, Iranian officials welcomed the overall report, and according to Abbas Araghchi, they considered its inclination to be more 'white.' Hassan Beheshtipour, an international affairs expert, also emphasized what he described as 'the victory of diplomacy in the field of nuclear accusations,' evaluating the new report of the IAEA Director General, stating: 'The main text of this report consists of 15 pages in 88 paragraphs and a 10-paragraph appendix that recalls the text of the IAEA's agreement with Iran in July 2015. Mr. Amano has attempted to provide a balanced picture of the IAEA's findings by presenting ambiguous and sometimes unclear statements, creating the groundwork for resolving past and present issues between Iran and the IAEA.' The editorial writer of the Iran newspaper stated that 'the results of normalizing Iran's nuclear file in the IAEA' will include 'three important topics': first, 'the start of the executive phases of the JCPOA because until the normalization of Iran's file and the end of the pretexts with the PMD tool, the implementation of the JCPOA will not begin,' second, 'the start of the implementation of the JCPOA means the beginning of the lifting of economic sanctions,' and 'these sanctions will be gradually lifted in line with Iran's commitments and corresponding bilateral actions.' Regarding the third result of the IAEA Director General's recent report, Beheshtipour wrote: 'With this report, the groundwork for reviewing Iran's file in a normal manner like other member countries of the IAEA is provided, and thus the possibility of international cooperation between Iran and other countries in the fields of peaceful nuclear use and technical knowledge exchange is created.' The Arman newspaper also welcomed Yukiya Amano's new report with the headline 'Goodbye PMD,' quoting Abbas Araghchi as saying: 'The IAEA report has attempted to be balanced and contains both positive and negative points, providing a balanced picture of the IAEA's findings. I believe that although the IAEA's report has its weaknesses, its summary leads to the peacefulness of Iran's nuclear program.' Ahmad Shirzad, a university professor and reformist figure, wrote in a note titled 'Amano's Report and the Future' in the Arman newspaper that: 'Amano's report regarding the situation of Iran's nuclear file is a very detailed report presented in technical language. In this report, events, claims made against Iran, Iran's counter-responses to the claims, resolved issues, and remaining ambiguities are listed, and what emerges from this report is that it contains elements that may not be to Iran's liking and may not be confirmed by Iran. However, as Mr. Araghchi has also acknowledged, this report is such that the 1+5 group will not face difficulties in fulfilling their commitments to Iran, and they can present the proposed resolution to the IAEA Board of Governors.' The editorial writer of the Arman newspaper emphasized that 'there is an important point that all Iranians should pay attention to; the IAEA will not simply grant absolution to any country,' stating: 'The maximum confirmation from the IAEA will be that, up to this moment, there are no indications that Iran has deviated from its peaceful program, and the past file can be declared closed.' Shirzad cited the IAEA's reports and inspections regarding Japan as an example, stating: 'In Japan, which has itself been a victim of nuclear weapons, over 40% of the IAEA's inspections have been conducted in this country, and they have always been under suspicion of moving towards nuclear weapons, and ultimately the IAEA has hardly granted absolution to the Japanese. This approach is also true in relation to Iran.' The editorial writer of the Arman newspaper noted that 'according to the JCPOA, the 1+5 group is committed to presenting a resolution to the Board of Governors after Mr. Amano's report regarding PMD, which means the diversion of the nuclear program towards militarization,' to ensure 'the closure of past issues regarding Iran.' He emphasized that 'the end of acceptance does not mean that the IAEA will not inspect Iran's nuclear sites. Inspections are fundamentally one of the important discussions of the JCPOA,' but 'the issue will exit from the crisis, political pressure, and the threat of resolutions, and just as it has exited the agenda of the UN Security Council, it will also exit the agenda of the Board of Governors.' According to this newspaper, 'of course, if Iran wants to carry out extensive enrichment programs, inspections will also be broader, and conversely, if the scope of enrichment programs is limited and according to Iran's commitments, enrichments are limited to the Natanz site, the number of items to be inspected will be limited,' while 'the inspectors' certificates from the IAEA provide Iran with assurance in front of foreign contractors that better safety has been observed.' Kayhan: IAEA Report is 'the Opponent's Trap' The Kayhan newspaper, however, in its front-page headline, referred to what it called 'the cheers and whistles of the U.S. and Israel for the IAEA report' and pointed to 'the opponent's trap,' stating: 'The IAEA Director General claimed in his report that Iran was involved in activities to build a nuclear bomb until 2009.' This newspaper wrote: 'The recent report of the IAEA can be referred to as the bone in the wound of the PMD file, which has been met with widespread acceptance by U.S. and Israeli officials.' According to Kayhan, Yukiya Amano's report 'could be a document worse than the JCPOA because it provides a technical infrastructure to discredit the claims of the Islamic Republic regarding the absence of any efforts to build nuclear weapons at any time in the past.' This newspaper referred to the IAEA Director General's report as 'the compressed spring of accusation,' stating: 'Although this report paves the way for closing the PMD file from political dimensions, legally it serves as a 'halt' and suspension of the investigation into the file and precisely provides the same pretext that the U.S. and the West have been trying to convey.' This newspaper, citing sections of the IAEA Director General's report, wrote: 'Amano was obliged to announce the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear program in the past and the falsehood of the accusations made, and legally to conclude the file, but now, as a bone in the wound, the Board of Governors of the IAEA claims; we are closing the file even though Iran intended to act maliciously and is accused.' Kayhan wrote: 'This means a kind of legal trigger mechanism and compressed spring of accusation against Iran that can be activated at any moment by the will of the U.S. and the West, while the nature of the political agreement to close the file is that it can currently facilitate irreversible commitments of the JCPOA, such as the removal of 98% of enriched uranium reserves, dismantling 14,000 centrifuges out of 19,000 centrifuges, and cementing the core of the Arak reactor, etc.' Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in the Kayhan editorial, wrote: 'The IAEA report could be a much more dangerous document than the JCPOA because it is an international document that indicates the invalidity and unreality of the views and arguments presented by Iran regarding the non-peaceful nature of its nuclear program; therefore, the Americans can turn the duration of the JCPOA from 15 years and 25 years to eternity, on the pretext that the IAEA report shows that Iran has lied for 12 years about its nuclear program.' 'The Final Warning of the Iranian Oil Minister to OPEC' The Shargh newspaper dedicated its front-page headline to a report from the meeting of oil ministers of OPEC member countries, summarizing the results of this meeting into three 'short news' items: 'The final warning of the Iranian oil minister to OPEC' and 'the failure of the Saudis' behind-the-scenes game to impose their idea on OPEC.' According to Reza Zandi, a reporter for the Shargh newspaper, 'The 168th meeting of the 12 OPEC member ministers concluded after nearly seven hours of intense negotiations with three short news items: No decision was made on OPEC's production ceiling. Abdullah Salem al-Badri's secretary-generalship ended after 9 years, and he will only manage OPEC for another seven months as the acting secretary-general. Indonesia has also returned to the OPEC fold, increasing the number of members of this organization to 13.' The Shargh newspaper noted that 'this meeting was one of the longest and most challenging OPEC meetings,' reporting that 'the Saudi oil minister left the secretariat without answering any questions, and the Iranian oil minister briefly told reporters: 'OPEC could not reach a new decision. We only decided to convert the current secretary-general into the acting secretary-general, and Mr. al-Badri will continue his work for seven months until a new secretary-general is elected.' According to this newspaper, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, in response to the question, 'Will the OPEC production ceiling remain at 30 million barrels?' said: 'No number was approved.' The Shargh newspaper also reported that Abdullah Salem al-Badri, at the end of the OPEC oil ministers' meeting, stated: 'Iran has returned to the market.'