Rohani: The Key to Iran-US Economic Relations is in Washington

The front page headline of Thursday's Shargh newspaper is "Insistence on Staying: The Strategy of Reformists." Iran's newspaper also headlines "The Red Carpet of Elysee Under Rohani's Feet," stating: "The train of moderate diplomacy has arrived in Paris after passing through Rome," while Khorasan newspaper reports with the headline "Paris Hosts Rohani," that "The meeting of the Islamic Republic's president and Iran's economic delegation with managers of 30 major French companies has taken place." Ali Ahani, Iran's ambassador to France, emphasized in the editorial of Iran newspaper that with Hassan Rohani's visit to France, "we will undoubtedly witness planning and exchanges of delegations at various political, economic, cultural, and parliamentary levels in the coming year, and with the lifting of sanctions, industrial economic cooperation between the two countries will face a new and significant acceleration." The "Economic Feast of the Parisian Partner" is how Etemad newspaper describes the welcome for Hassan Rohani in France. "The key to Iran-US economic relations is in Washington. If I were in Tehran, I would definitely use it," said Hassan Rohani. According to Etemad, the Iranian president stated: "The key to Iran-US economic relations is in Washington. If I were in Tehran, I would definitely use it." Etemad newspaper wrote: "Rohani arrived in the land of Peugeot and Airbus on Wednesday night and upon arrival witnessed a written welcome from the prestigious French-language newspaper Le Monde, reminiscent of the return to the happy days of Iranian-French relations; a time when the French president would come down the steps of the Elysee Palace to welcome the Iranian president, showing respect for Iran in a behavior that was considered unconventional in Paris at that time." The insistence on staying is the strategy of reformists in the elections, wrote Shargh in its Thursday front page, noting that "the process of addressing the complaints of disqualified candidates continues, while there are no signs of significant openings at this stage." It stated: "Although the collective decision of reformists regarding electoral tactics in the current situation has not been officially announced, the positions of reformist figures and organizations in recent days share common themes from which one can glean aspects of the electoral strategy of reformists in difficult conditions." Even if reformist forces are disqualified, they should not sulk in the face of adversities and abandon the elections. Gholamhossein Karbaschi, a reformist figure, referred to Mohammad Reza Aref's message, the head of the reformists' electoral policy council, inviting youth to "participate and act in the upcoming elections," and wrote: "Aref's message, while it is still unclear which candidates the reformists can participate with in the upcoming elections, has only one meaning: that reformists will participate in the elections under any circumstances." This newspaper also quoted Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the secretary-general of the Executives of Construction Party, stating: "Under no circumstances, even if reformist forces are disqualified, should we sulk in the face of adversities and abandon the elections. The only tool for peacefully resolving internal differences is elections, and if we eliminate that, it means that differences of opinion should be resolved through undemocratic methods." The Young newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in its Thursday editorial defended Ahmad Jannati, the 89-year-old secretary of the Guardian Council, calling him "the second martyr of the revolution" and wrote: "The only difference is that martyr Beheshti was the target of accusations and rumors, while Ayatollah Jannati is the target of mockery and insinuations." Abdullah Ghanji, the editorial writer of the Young newspaper, compared Ahmad Jannati with Mohammad Hossein Beheshti, stating: "They cannot hurl thousands of accusations at him like they did with martyr Beheshti because there is no future for his worldly accumulation. Therefore, with thousands of magnifying glasses, they could not find a trace of worldly desire in this great man. Certainly, if he were of our world, he would have abandoned the arena under slight pressure and preferred his peace at this age over anything else." The editorial writer of the Young newspaper emphasized that "Ayatollah Jannati, like all of us, may make mistakes, but the outputs such as Khatami, Rohani, reformists of the sixth parliament, and recently Hashemi show that Ayatollah Jannati does not act according to his own preferences for the most sensitive positions in the country. He appears in the framework of a council mechanism and votes based on piety." The Young newspaper also mentioned the killing of Hossein Jannati, the son of Ahmad Jannati and a senior member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization in the early years after the revolution, stating: "If the worldly people strive for the welfare of their wife and child, Ayatollah Jannati has previously chosen between his child and the revolution." This newspaper noted that Ahmad Jannati "in the last years of his life, has preserved the health of the revolution and the firmness of Imam's path as his reserve and provision," stating: "This is something that worldly people are incapable of understanding." The Young newspaper also warned about the consequences of forming a "moderate parliament" in a note titled "Main Challenges in the 94 Elections," stating: "The main media line of the anti-revolutionary networks is already focused on this strategy of polarization between moderation and extremism ahead of the upcoming elections and is already concentrating on strengthening the faction that has chosen the title 'Moderates.'" Abbas Hajji Najari, in the Young newspaper's note, wrote: "The importance of the 94 elections is not only related to the functions and legal duties of the two Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts, but what is important for external enemies and their internal agents is that all their methods for controlling and defeating the Islamic revolution over the past three decades have failed, and the only remaining model for them is to focus on the upcoming elections, not in a challenging way like the turmoil of July 78 and June 88 that occurred before the sixth parliament and the tenth presidential elections, but rather focusing on an interactive model within the framework of legal and accepted electoral mechanisms and, of course, internal factors." This newspaper close to the Revolutionary Guards emphasized that one cannot expect the strategy of the ruling system and its internal allies in the upcoming elections to follow a model like past upheavals, which is a classic model in velvet coups; from their perspective, creating cohesion among the capacities claiming reformism and moderation against the revolutionary force and "forming a moderate parliament" could effectively control the Islamic system and have the effectiveness of models like war or past upheavals." The note writer of the Young newspaper referred to "limiting Iran's sphere of influence in the region," "blackening the internal situation and negative statistics against the functions of the revolution," "attributing weaknesses and inefficiencies to revolutionary forces," and "restricting the entry of effective forces of the system in economic fields" as strategies of the "ruling system and internal allies" and wrote: "The claimants of moderation in practice have depicted clear examples of dictatorial tendencies in the internal arena and are, of course, passive in front of foreigners." "The Parliament Provides New Information to the Guardian Council" The Etemad newspaper reported quoting Mohammad Hassan Abutalebi that "The Parliament provides new information to the Guardian Council" so that this council may reconsider the disqualification of some current or former representatives. This newspaper, noting that Mohammad Hassan Abutalebi provided a narrative for the first time about the influential figures of the Parliament advocating for the qualification of some disqualified candidates, wrote: "The first deputy speaker of the Parliament believes that increasing information about these individuals can revive their hopes for returning to the competitive scene." According to Etemad, Mohammad Hossein Abutalebi "confirmed his role and that of other senior officials of the Parliament in the negotiations with the Guardian Council," but the discussions of the Parliament leaders with the Guardian Council include "the disqualified candidates of the Majlis," meaning those candidates who either have a history of presence in the Parliament or are currently present in the ninth period." This newspaper also wrote: "The opportunity for addressing the complaints of disqualified candidates is running out, but hopes remain alive. Negotiations for re-evaluating some qualifications continue, just as complaints and requests continue. According to this newspaper, at the same time, "Masoud Pezeshkian has raised serious objections to the qualification review process," and Ali Motahari has also requested in a letter to Hassan Rohani for the Islamic Republic's president to address the issue of disqualifications. The Resalat newspaper's request for a "ban on negotiations with the US" The Resalat newspaper has called for a ban on any negotiations with the US and other Western countries. In its Thursday editorial, this newspaper wrote: "We have no dialogue with the Americans other than 'JCPOA'" and "We must be vigilant; they want to pick our pockets and undermine our revolutionary legitimacy in the eyes of the world’s nations. Therefore, any dialogue about the region or any topic other than the nuclear issue must be banned." The Resalat newspaper emphasized that "if our diplomats are a little vigilant, they can understand the precision and delicacy of this prohibition," writing: "Establishing a red phone or a phone of any other color with the Americans in this regard makes no sense. The US has been conducting hostile actions against Iran in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. It disrupts our relations with neighbors. Alongside these actions, it wants to present itself as neutral through secret talks and claim it has no connection with anti-Iranian actions." This newspaper emphasized that "these talks at any level must be suspended. We should not have any dialogue in any field regarding regional issues with the Americans as long as they beat the drum of hostility." Resalat also wrote: "Given the current state of the world, it is unlikely that if the US violates its JCPOA commitments, they will succeed in creating a consensus against Iran again." It stated: "The Chinese have recently shown that they are not willing to continue the consensus against Iran, even during the sanctions. The Russians have also followed the same path after the Ukraine incident. Therefore, the Americans were even empty-handed during the two years of nuclear negotiations in this regard." "Dying in Winter; The Death of a Homeless Person in the Herandi Neighborhood of Tehran" The Hamdeli newspaper, in a report titled "The Cycle of Death in Herandi Street to Wandering Patients in the City" with the headline "Dying in Winter," wrote: "Another homeless person has died. This time in Herandi Street and right at the intersection of Soapchi Alley; a marginal street that has recently become more talked about than any other street." This newspaper noted that "the occasional deaths of homeless people in this street have become a normal occurrence," writing: "The officials who came to take the body even smile." 10% of the 15,000 homeless people in Tehran are facing contagious diseases. Farzad Hoshyar, an official from the municipality, according to Hamdeli newspaper, stated in December of this year that "Tehran has more than 15,000 homeless people," saying: "Every night, more than 5,000 homeless people are collected from the streets of Tehran." According to this municipal official, "10% of the 15,000 homeless people in Tehran are facing contagious diseases." This newspaper wrote: "The municipality, Red Crescent, Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, broadcasting organization, judiciary, welfare organization, police, and in total, eleven agencies and organizations are responsible for dealing with homeless issues," but winter remains "not only unlovable for the homeless but also hateful, frightening, and deadly."