Shameful Destruction of the Earthquake

The newspaper Shahrvand reported with the headline "Shameful Destruction of the Earthquake": "While officials in Kerman province have deemed the destruction of 1500 buildings in the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in the Hojdak region as 'insignificant', Saber Pirbarnash, a member of the Engineering System Organization, stated that 'this statistic has no room for boasting'. He said, 'The destruction of 1500 buildings is indeed very shameful, as not only in advanced countries but also in neighboring countries of Iran, which are not in very good conditions, more principled construction practices are followed.' According to this newspaper, after the 6.1 magnitude earthquake early Friday morning in the Hojdak region, which destroyed 'about 1500 buildings', 'Ali Akbar Soltani Nejad, the director general of the Housing Foundation of Kerman, attributed the lesser destruction in Kerman to good renovation and strengthening of buildings.' Saber Pirbarnash, a member of the Engineering System Organization, compared 'the level of damage inflicted on Iraq in the Kermanshah earthquake' and said: 'The earthquake that shook the Iran-Iraq border two weeks ago officially left 474 dead in Sarpol-e Zahab and Qasr-e Shirin and surrounding villages; however, in a situation where it is said that some bodies were buried without reporting to the forensic medicine and are not included in the casualty statistics, it is noteworthy that the earthquake that also shook Sulaymaniyah and Erbil in Iraq only had 7 fatalities and buildings suffered minor damages; however, in Kermanshah, the earthquake damaged and destroyed 31,000 buildings, a significant number of which were new constructions. He continued: In other words, the destruction of 1500 buildings is indeed very shameful.' Haidar Jahangir, a member of the board of directors of the Engineering System Organization, described 'the destruction of 1500 buildings in the Kerman earthquake' as excessive and told the Shahrvand newspaper that 'comparing the Kerman earthquake and Kermanshah for assessing the extent of the destruction is unprofessional, as the form of the earthquake significantly impacts the level of destruction', just as Saber Pirbarnash also told this newspaper: 'The severe earthquake in Kermanshah only had 7 fatalities in Iraq and caused minor damages to buildings. Meanwhile, in Kermanshah, even newly built and unoccupied buildings were not safe from extensive destruction, which indicates that construction practices in Iran are even worse than those in Middle Eastern countries.' The newspaper Khorasan published the news of the Hojdak earthquake in Kerman with the headline 'The 6 Magnitude Earthquake in Kerman Passed Safely' and wrote: 'This earthquake resulted in 52 injuries and mainly caused the collapse of rural adobe houses. Meanwhile, the deputy governor of Kerman announced that due to the strengthening of houses in the earthquake-affected area in 2003, there were no casualties.' The newspaper Javan dedicated a photo to a design related to the World Cup lottery and wrote with the headline 'Fear and Excitement in Iran's Group': 'With the World Cup lottery, Iran was grouped with Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, a group known as the group of death.' This newspaper, while mentioning Carlos Queiroz's name in its report as 'Queiroz', quoted the Iranian national football team's coach as saying: 'Queiroz believes that despite the tough opponents our country has, the Iranian players have a good chance to advance to the next stage.' The newspaper Hamdeli wrote with the headline 'A Little Luck': 'The fifth presence of the national team in the World Cup, along with good performances and Iran's easy qualification for the World Cup finals, has created expectations beyond merely being a tourist for our national team in the World Cup, but Iran's presence in the group of death in this competition is also a matter that has seriously worried the national team's fans.' Ali Ali, a journalist and sports commentator, in a note in the newspaper Jam-e-Farda, has a different opinion. He emphasized that 'something good happened in the lottery, and Iran will play against the world's great teams; from this perspective, it is very important that our managers learn that if they hide behind the national team's successes, now that they are going to play against great teams, it is time to fulfill the promises they made.' The Jam-e-Farda columnist also wrote about the lottery being held in the Kremlin: 'This hosting is a great victory for Putin. Because their presidential elections are next year, and they need to politically rebuild public opinion, and Putin is trying to convey to his people through the World Cup that he can manage the country in the best way for its global standing.' The newspaper Shargh quoted Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, a supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the 2005 and 2009 elections, as saying: 'I do not approve of Ahmadinejad's actions and behavior today; because I see a deviant state in him now.' According to this newspaper, at the same time, Qasem Ravanbakhsh, a senior member of the party that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi is the spiritual father of, said about Ahmadinejad: 'In my opinion, the head of the deviant sect, Mr. Mashaei, managed to bring Ahmadinejad down and remove him from the benefit. I believe Ahmadinejad has been out of the circle of guardianship since his 11-day house arrest and reached his peak in the recent elections by breaking his loyal covenant. His recent actions also clarify the truths more than before.' Mahsa Jazini in a report for the newspaper Shargh emphasized that despite these statements, 'it is unlikely anyone will forget Ayatollah Mesbah's expressions and descriptions about Ahmadinejad; descriptions that neither silence nor occasional criticisms in the following years will prevent their permanence', including in the summer of 2009, Mesbah Yazdi said about Ahmadinejad: 'When the presidency received the decree of the Supreme Leader, obedience to him is like obedience to God.' The reporter of Shargh reminded that immediately after the 2005 elections, Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi had said that 'Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a divine reserve for today.' The newspaper Qanoon also wrote with the headline 'The Past Innocence' that 'after years, Mesbah Yazdi confirmed Hashemi Rafsanjani's recommendation that Ahmadinejad is deviant.' This newspaper wrote: 'The inappropriate support of some figures who considered supporting Ahmadinejad as one of their principles is now like a hammer over their heads. Some of those personalities, in the early days of Ahmadinejad's departure from power, declared their innocence from him to escape the consequences of their actions, but a few principled conservatives who put all their eggs in Ahmadinejad's basket, since they did not want to accept the failure of this gamble, did not express the truth. One of these personalities who supported Ahmadinejad and his thoughts a lot was Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi.' The newspaper Jomhouri Islami in its Saturday editorial titled 'The Country is Not a Wrestling Arena' wrote: For many individuals who follow 'the arguments these days' between Ahmadinejad and his associates with officials, 'this situation is a natural event that occurs as a consequence of actions taken.' The newspaper emphasized that 'the true faces of those who said and did whatever they wanted for eight years, who did not care about the dignity of individuals and the fate of the country and nation, should now be revealed to the people by their own words.' This newspaper stressed that 'the insults today are rightly directed at those who either supported these insulters yesterday or remained silent in the face of their wrongdoings and insults and lies.' It wrote: 'For years, to support these very insulters and cover up their wrongdoings, some individuals who were unwilling to accompany this deviant path were accused of sedition, ignorance, and opposition to the system and endured a lot of pressure. Now, God's will has been to lift the veils, and it should be clear to everyone who the real seditionists were and who lacked insight and acted against the system.' The editorial writer of the Jomhouri Islami newspaper reminded that 'some encouraged people to vote for someone who is now referred to with terms like thug, liar, bigmouth, insultor, and someone known for making baseless statements, they considered him the representative of the Imam of the Time and conveyed dreams to show his greatness and importance.' However, those same people 'are now silent and are not willing to at least express regret in front of the people for what they have said, for misleading some people.' This newspaper pointed out that Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani predicted such days in 'his letter and Friday prayer sermon and speeches', writing: 'Even now, there are well-meaning individuals who, with real insight and high capability and readiness, can solve problems and prevent new problems from arising, but their words are ignored, and their experiences and capabilities are not utilized.' The Jomhouri Islami newspaper wrote that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his close associates, who during their eight years of governance over the executive branch 'committed numerous violations in all areas and left a legacy of bad ethics, mismanagement, illegal actions, division, and numerous financial problems', and now 'have mistaken the country for a wrestling arena and think that with these displays of strength, they can once again seize power and bring worse calamities upon the people than before.' This newspaper wrote: 'The people compare the actions of these individuals with what opponents of these very individuals have faced for stating the realities about them, who ended up in prison and faced other pressures, and ask why these individuals are being tolerated now that everything is clear?' It emphasized that 'continuing the current situation is not in the country's interest, and the system's officials must save the country from the wrestling arena it has fallen into. It is not expected that anyone should be dealt with more than what the law specifies', but 'if the current loudmouths are handed over to the law, everyone will see that all their slogans will lose color and their boasting will come to an end.' Molavi Abdolhamid Ismail Zehi, the Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan, reported in an interview with the newspaper Ebtekar about restrictions imposed on his travel, stating that he is only allowed to travel to Qom and Tehran. The Sunni Friday prayer leader of Zahedan told this newspaper: 'I have no problem traveling and moving in Tehran and Sistan and Baluchestan and Qom, but there are restrictions for other provinces. For example, some time ago I wanted to go to Khorasan and participate in a funeral, some individuals contacted me and asked me not to attend this ceremony, and these problems exist in other provinces as well. I hope that with the wisdom of caring officials, such issues will be resolved, and as an Iranian, regardless of being Shia or Sunni, I should not have any problems with movement, and for me, there is no difference between Shia and Sunni.' Molavi Abdolhamid said: 'No official notice has been officially communicated to me, and usually, it is informally announced that I cannot go to a city.' 'The 30-Year Regret' is the headline of the Shahrvand newspaper's report on the fate of those who 'over the past three decades in the course of two cases of imported and domestic blood products, contracted AIDS and hepatitis C and D.' Survivors of the 'contaminated blood case' told Zahra Jafarzadeh, a reporter for the Shahrvand newspaper: 'In these years, due to their illness, they could not marry, have children, were dismissed from their jobs, and could not continue their studies.' This newspaper wrote: 'A 3,000-page file showed the whole story; the story of hemophiliac patients who, in two periods, became victims of contaminated blood products, imported and domestic. In one period, the French company 'Merioux' imported blood products to Iran and several other countries such as Germany, Italy, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc., and this was enough for many hemophiliac patients in these countries to become HIV positive, and in the second period, it was 'domestic blood products' that, due to a technical defect in the virus inactivation device, inflicted hepatitis C upon them.' The Shahrvand newspaper, noting that 'the case had nearly 1,900 plaintiffs and Ahmad Ghoidell, the CEO of the Iranian Hemophilia Association, was one of those who followed their case for years', quoted him as saying: 'All AIDS patients related to registered hemophiliac patients in this case amounted to 193, of which 13 were spouses and 4 children of their families.' 'Mohammad', a 38-year-old hemophiliac patient suffering from AIDS and hepatitis C, is one of the victims of this incident who told the Shahrvand newspaper: 'I was seven years old when I was injected with the imported factor eight from the Merioux company, which was also contaminated; I still remember the shape of those factors that were injected into me. Of course, I was not alone; Amir and Behrouz were my other two brothers who also had hemophilia, at that time my younger brother and I became infected with AIDS; Amir had severe stomach bleeding, we tested, and they said the whole family should be tested, when the test results came, we found out that I had also contracted AIDS, two or three years later, around 1990, Amir died because of AIDS; and when he died, we just realized that he had AIDS, at that time test results were not given to anyone, all our information and files were in the basement of Imam Khomeini Hospital, then they said that place caught fire and the files burned. Our files were never found.' He said: 'If I were healthy, I would have married and had children. If it weren't for HIV, my situation would be much better than now. In 2006, I wanted to get married, but when the other party found out I had HIV, they ran away. AIDS has disrupted my life a lot; many reacted badly. I explained to others how I got infected; it was important for me that they knew. Many people do not even know what the story of contaminated blood products is. These diseases led me to drugs. I used crystal and tramadol; I studied until the second year of middle school; it was hard for me to find work because of my condition.