Signing of Six Cooperation Documents Between Rouhani and Aliyev

The newspaper Shargh, in its front page on Monday, titled "Oil Conspiracy," quoted Es'hagh Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, the president, stating: "Foreigners are spending money inside to undermine oil contracts." This newspaper described Jahangiri's statements on Sunday as a "revelation" and reported that the vice president, after a cabinet meeting, referred to some opposition to the reform of oil contracts, saying: "Some foreign countries that share fields with us are spending money inside the country to prevent us from operating so they can extract from the shared fields and take the share of the Iranian nation. We will not succumb to these conditions and, God willing, oil contracts will soon be signed." The newspaper Etemad reported on its front page about "From Billion-Dollar Loans to Depositing Card Reader Money into the Accounts of Samaneh Al-Hojjah Managers," stating that "some customers of Samaneh Al-Hojjah received billion-dollar loans from one branch of the cooperative and deposited the same amount in another branch, receiving a 35% profit from it." This newspaper, recalling that "since September of last year, the Samaneh Al-Hojjah credit cooperative has been unable to repay depositors' funds and fulfill its commitments due to a financial crisis," pointed to mismanagement and the lack of an integrated information system in 481 branches of the Samaneh Al-Hojjah institution, stating that "some officials of the cooperative have taken loans from the people's deposits, but now, in the current situation, they are shirking from repaying the installments of the loans received." The newspaper Iran, close to the government, reported on its front page about the "Cancellation of Visas Between Iran and Azerbaijan" and quoted Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, stating: "From now on, Iranians and Azerbaijanis will travel to each other's countries without a visa." This newspaper described the visa cancellation between Iran and Azerbaijan as one of the six documents and memorandums of understanding signed during Rouhani's visit to Baku and quoted the Iranian president as saying: "In the past three years, the relations between the two countries have been rapidly expanding, and very good steps have been taken for the comprehensive development of Tehran-Baku relations." In this trip, they also "reached an understanding regarding the legal regime of the Caspian Sea, so that both countries can work more quickly in this area to achieve a final agreement in the future." The newspaper Hamdeli dedicated its front page to Shahram Amiri, a researcher and specialist in medical radioisotopes at Malek Ashtar University, in a report titled "End of Ambiguities About Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Hero," stating that two days after the news of his execution was published, on Sunday, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesman of the judiciary, confirmed Amiri's execution for espionage. This newspaper reviewed the statements of officials from the previous government, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, regarding "Shahram Amiri's abduction" during the 2009 Hajj pilgrimage, noting that even Saeed Jalili, the then secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told the German magazine Der Spiegel that Amiri "was abducted during a foreign trip and spent a year outside Iran, and now we are investigating what happened to him." The newspaper also mentioned that at that time, U.S. officials and media claimed that "Shahram Amiri, a scientist from the Atomic Energy Organization, had sought asylum in the U.S.," but "Ali Akbar Salehi stated that Amiri was neither a nuclear scientist nor had any connection with the Atomic Energy Organization." The newspaper noted that Amiri returned to Iran on July 15, 2010, after several contradictory videos were released, stating: "Upon his return to Iran, official officials of Ahmadinejad's government welcomed him with a flower wreath and treated him like a nuclear hero." It also mentioned that "a few days after his release, he appeared in a special news interview on Channel Two and explained his situation in the U.S.; however, the story did not end there. At that time, some media claimed that Amiri was arrested shortly after returning to Iran and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 5 years of exile to the city of Khash in June 2012." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Front of Steadfastness, referred to Shahram Amiri as a "spy" and quoted Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i as saying that this executed prisoner "sold completely secret and hidden information of the country to the U.S." This newspaper had previously written on July 14, 2010, about Shahram Amiri that "he was abducted in a joint operation between the assassination and abduction teams of the CIA and Saudi intelligence in Medina, and during his captivity, he never betrayed his homeland." The newspaper also published the spokesman's remarks about the execution of a group of Sunni prisoners, stating that "these individuals had multiple crimes and criminal records and were targeting the security of the country inspired by external enemies and wanted to make society insecure." Fathollah Ameli, in a note in the newspaper Etelaat titled "The Message of Virtual Networks," wrote that the role of virtual networks is "much more significant and effective than official media, including radio and television and costly advertisements" because "people are thirsty for news and truth, and when this desire is unanswered by official media, they turn to other sources, and their trust in official news and information dissemination centers has been damaged for a long time." The writer of the Etelaat newspaper noted that "many news items are deemed confidential and security-related and are not communicated to society," writing: "In recent days, foreign media and even official bodies reported on executions in Iran, labeling them as religious purges." Fathollah Ameli also asked: "Why do we wait so long regarding the case of Dr. Shahram Amiri until everyone says whatever they want, and when the political and social atmosphere is filled with rumors and speculation, we remember to come forward with information and revelations, which certainly reminds us of the proverb 'a remedy after Sohrab's death.'" The newspaper Javan reported on its front page about the production of genetically modified products in the country and the challenges surrounding these products, stating: "With a billion-dollar budget in the field of GMOs, they are engaging in political work." The newspaper Arman also reported on its front page about the "Arrest of Shahram Jazayeri" and quoted one of his relatives as saying: "A meeting was supposed to be held on Saturday morning regarding the entry of the Padideh company into the stock market and the challenges ahead, and Mr. Jazayeri intended to present the same topics he had raised on social media to provincial journalists, but before the meeting was held, the prosecutor summoned Mr. Jazayeri for explanations, and naturally, the meeting was canceled." Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, Jazayeri's lawyer in the economic case, expressed ignorance about his former client's situation and told the Arman newspaper: "I have no information about Mr. Jazayeri's situation and saw the news about him on websites," adding that "Mr. Jazayeri has not contacted me," and that "I was his lawyer in the economic case, and after that, there was no issue that required a lawyer." The newspaper Etemad has a report titled "Protest" about the "Neglects and Shortages of Iranian Athletes in the Rio Olympics," stating: "The 2016 Rio Olympics started for us from the very first day; a day that could have been better for Iran, and now our country could be placed in the medal table, but unfortunately, it did not happen, and this is not due to the athletes' negligence, but due to weak management and lack of proper planning and support. Now we see that besides the athletes who went to the field and did not achieve the desired results despite their competence, those who have not yet competed are protesting against the current conditions and what has happened until today." This newspaper also wrote: "It is reported that Sima Limoochi, the coach of Neda Shahsavari, our table tennis player - who was sent to Brazil by the president's order - arrived at the competition venue two hours after her student lost." According to this newspaper, even "the head coach of the Iranian national volleyball team criticized the National Olympic Committee for providing only two sets of uniforms to the volleyball players and demanded the use of their previous warm-up suits."