Slogans for Lifting House Arrest and Media Ban at Shiroodi Stadium

The newspaper Arman also quoted Hassan Rouhani addressing his rivals in the conservative faction, stating: "Your recommendation in the first year of the eleventh government was to not allow December 16 to be free. You have always viewed the university as a threat. You wanted our youth to be under siege and isolation. Please openly tell the people the same things you said in private meetings. Did you not pressure every day for the virtual space to be closed? Did you not pressure every day for women's employment to be halted?" The newspaper Shargh dedicated its front page to Hassan Rouhani's remarks during a meeting with various groups of women, quoting him as saying: "We do not accept gender discrimination." This newspaper reported that "on Tuesday, women went to Shahid Shiroodi Stadium not to cheer for sports teams, but to meet Hassan Rouhani. However, alongside their presence, they had written their demands one by one on handmade placards. They spoke of equality in the right to leave the country, equality in rights, equality in child custody rights, equality in income, equality in political positions, and other demands." Shargh noted the "green and purple symbols" in the hands of Hassan Rouhani's supporters, stating: "Many people seemed to have come from various corners of the city (to Shiroodi Stadium) to loudly express their demands to Hassan Rouhani. The same demands that still have a long way to go before they are realized, even with another presidential term ahead." Therefore, some placards read: "The necessity of women's right to enter stadiums," but the majority of the hall chanted slogans for lifting house arrest and media bans. The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, described Hassan Rouhani's recent remarks during his election speeches as "the exit of Rouhani from moderation in 96" and "political suicide," stating: "We must see where the limit of Rouhani's candor and audacity lies. Does he want to continue his political suicide at any cost to attract public votes, or will he adhere to the rules of democracy and the legal framework governing religious democracy?" This newspaper published parts of Hassan Rouhani's remarks as instances of "political suicide," including his statement: "In May 96, the Iranian people will once again declare that they do not accept those who have only known executions and prisons for 38 years." This newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, pointed out that reformists and their affiliated media welcomed Rouhani's remarks as "candor" and questioned: "Now the fundamental question is, to which of the candidates does the expected candor of reformists in these statements return? Is it not the case that he has turned to system-phobia instead of fear of rivals?" The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz described Rouhani's election remarks as "aggressive" and "insulting," reporting that Ebrahim Raisi, a candidate from a faction of conservatives, reacted to Rouhani's change in tone during election speeches, stating: "If you did not fulfill your promises to the people over four years, the way is not through fear of rivals." According to this newspaper, Ebrahim Raisi said these remarks "stem from Rouhani's anger at the protesting workers and the poor who do not want to tolerate his government." Kayhan, in its Wednesday front page titled "What plans do the extremists have for Rouhani?" reported the possibility of repeating the events of 88 during the 96 elections but introduced it as a conspiracy from the "think tank supporting Hassan Rouhani," stating: "A group is to be formed under the title of government supporters, and in contrast, a fake group of plainclothes individuals with a Hezbollah appearance will be created to attack this group. In this way, the atmosphere of 88 will be reproduced to provoke an emotional and sensational atmosphere." Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan, described Rouhani's recent remarks as "subversive statements," saying: "As we approach the election date, the likelihood increases that the members of the behind-the-scenes operation room of Mr. Rouhani see the election merely as an excuse, and their ultimate goal is defined outside the established electoral circle. This point is clearly understandable from Mr. Rouhani's subversive remarks." Kayhan even warned of the possibility of Rouhani's campaign headquarters being set on fire but stated that these actions are based on the "instructions" of Rouhani's supporters and for "victimhood portrayal." This newspaper wrote that in this "instruction," it is stated: "Use young girls and poorly dressed individuals to attract the votes of the youth! We have assigned the rumor and lie engine, currently managed by one of the channels operated from abroad, to bring it into the public space of the country, and this is only possible through actions like self-harm and burning our own campaign headquarters in Tehran and other cities." The newspaper Siyasat-e-Rooz, another newspaper close to the conservative faction, also accused Rouhani of "using strange and bizarre words and making unfounded accusations" against his rivals, stating that Rouhani's remarks "question his responsibility regarding 100% of opinions" and "we advise Mr. President that if you want to maintain this slogan, it is better to change your behavior towards your rival and critics." The newspaper Shahre Vatan reported in a piece titled "Coordinated Destruction" that "conservative media, with the background of undermining the government, are lowering the status of the presidency and executive officials of the country." This newspaper noted that "the media, advertising, and electoral atmosphere that Iran is experiencing in this election period has clear differences from previous periods," stating: "In large cities like Tehran, there are no large banners, paper advertisements, or distribution of brochures and CDs among the people, and all the advertising efforts and planning of candidates are focused on the virtual space; except in smaller cities where traditional advertising strategies are still effective." The newspaper Shahre Vatan also pointed out the conservative faction's electoral focus on social media and internet sites, stating: "The movement that has long defended filtering social networks and messaging services, and until just a few years ago introduced the expansion of social networks as a factor for infiltration and cultural aggression, now has active pages and users on all these networks and delivers their advertisements and programs to their audiences through these channels." This newspaper noted that "over the past four years, the volume of attacks against the government has been so widespread with discourse and reliance on some psychological warfare techniques that the media supporting the government have had less capacity to confront and counter it," adding: "Especially since the consequences and damages of what happened during Ahmadinejad's era on the independent and reformist media space of the country have not yet been repaired, and this government, like the reformist government, has not been able to utilize professional information dissemination to introduce its achievements and performance. In contrast, the rival's artillery is clear, both in news agencies and news sites and social networks." Ahmad Shirzad, a reformist political activist, told the newspaper Shahre Vatan: "The rival media of the government, by publishing incorrect information and statistics, are trying to mislead the audience about the government's performance; however, these media do not have many audiences and are not widely seen in society, and among the media that are undermining the government in this election period, only state television has a relatively broader audience, and the discussion of its performance is separate. In fact, the main function that conservative media currently have is mainly to boost the morale of their own forces, and in this regard, they are influential." The newspaper Arman dedicated its front page to women supporters of Hassan Rouhani, and on Tuesday, Hassan Rouhani stated among his female supporters at Shiroodi Stadium in Tehran that "when we succeeded during the revolution, it was when women took to the streets. If women come out in the elections today, we will succeed." According to this newspaper, Hassan Rouhani emphasized that "the record of the eleventh government's four years and the records of others who have been in other positions," stating: "They (electoral rivals) should say what they have done in the past 38 years. Our record over four years is clear. The record of those who have held a position for 12 years is also clear." The newspaper Jahan San'at dedicated its front page to the remarks of the Central Bank Governor, quoting Valiollah Seif as saying: "The municipality is the largest bank debtor" and "currently, the Tehran municipality is one of the largest bank debtors, with debts of about five to six thousand billion tomans to banks, meaning the municipality itself is among the four percent?" Additionally, "all the projects that the Tehran mayor has mentioned and claims to have built and put into operation, such as the metro, the Sadr highway, or similar projects in Tehran, have been funded through banks." According to this newspaper, the Central Bank Governor also referred to public dissatisfaction with the performance of some financial and credit institutions, stating: "One of the institutions that, fortunately, is now in the process of complete organization under the responsibility of Bank Saderat Iran is the Mizan Institute, of which Mr. Raisi is certainly fully aware of the details regarding its formation and expansion." The newspaper Siyasat-e-Rooz quoted Ali Asghar Ahmadi, head of the Election Headquarters, as saying: "56 million 410 thousand 234 individuals are eligible to participate in the elections on May 29, of which 1 million 350 thousand 294 are first-time voters." The newspaper Ebtekar, in its Wednesday issue, published a photo of the 21 candidates for the Tehran City Council election who are on the reformists' electoral list, stating: "While this year the presidential election and the Islamic City Council election in Tehran are held simultaneously, the reformists announced their final list for the City Council election after selecting Hassan Rouhani as their candidate for the presidency." According to this newspaper, "this 21-member list, which was supposed to be completed on the 15th of this month, was finalized and published four days late, on Tuesday afternoon, May 19, and includes prominent figures such as Mohsen Hashemi, Ahmad Masjed Jamei, Ebrahim Amini, Hassan Rasouli, Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, the well-known reformist politician from the Sunni community, Mahmoud Mirloohi, and six women including Shahbanu Amani, Nahid Khodakarami, Bahareh Arvin, Elham Fakhari, Zahra Nejad Bahram, and Zahra Sadr Azam Noori.