Special Proposals to the Elected Representatives of the Hope List

The newspaper Hamdeli has reported on the "disclosure of special proposals to the elected representatives of the Hope List" and has assessed it as "an attempt to bribe the representatives of the tenth parliament." According to this newspaper, Mahmoud Sadeghi, one of the elected representatives from Tehran in the tenth parliament, revealed on Saturday that "special proposals under the title of housing facilities have been offered to the elected representatives by some individuals, which have a color and smell of bribery." Mahmoud Sadeghi emphasized that "the proposers attributed their proposals to Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the ninth parliament," stating: "It is quite evident that some behaviors have the nature and scent of bribery. Of course, many of the privileges that were mentioned in that meeting to be offered to the elected representatives have no connection to Mr. Larijani, and he is probably unaware of these issues being raised; however, it was repeatedly emphasized in the two-day meeting on 'Legislative Process; Requirements and Solutions' that these housing and insurance facilities, etc., are related to him." In the competitive context for the presidency of the tenth parliament, "these discussions are meaningful, and rest assured that if these behaviors are repeated, I will not remain silent." The Hamdeli newspaper quoted this elected representative from Tehran as saying: "Unfortunately, we witnessed that in this conference, which was supposed to be held only with the presence of the elected representatives of the tenth parliament, some officials from the ninth parliament were present next to the representatives' seats, raising certain issues, and overall, the information being conveyed for change was directed and sometimes the votes of the representatives were mentioned." Mahmoud Sadeghi also described the pre-election statements of Kazem Jalali, a principlist representative close to Ali Larijani, as "superficial" and accused the current head of the Followers of the Velayat faction, members of the office, and several figures close to Ali Larijani of trying to "cancel" the meeting of the elected representatives of the Hope List. Kazem Jalali, the representative from Shahroud in the ninth parliament, head of the parliament's research center, and a close associate of Ali Larijani, was included in the Hope List and entered the tenth parliament in the elections on March 7. The newspaper Aftab Yazd, on its front page titled "Parliamentary Potato," wrote: "Three groups are seeking to bribe the elected representatives to continue the presidency of the principlists." This newspaper referred to part of Mahmoud Sadeghi's remarks from Saturday about "Ali Larijani's personality being very respectable, but some behaviors are ambiguous and similar to those potato behaviors," stating: "Wherever there is talk of competition and political struggle for power and position, the 'sacks of potatoes' come into play, and it seems that 'potatoes' have become an inseparable and integral part of every competition in the political sphere." However, "the interesting point is that this earthy plant is most commonly used by the right-wing faction and is utilized by the principlists in the struggles over the possession of elected institutions." The newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh dedicated its front page to two reformist figures, Mohammad-Reza Khatami and Abdul-Vahid Mousavi Lari, stating: "Finally, after much hesitation and contemplation regarding the coalition with Ali Larijani and the concession of the first seat of the parliament to him or insisting on Aref's presidency, the reformists made their decision and set out to focus all their efforts on Aref's presidency in the tenth parliament while maintaining interaction and friendly relations with Ali Larijani and the moderate principlist faction." This newspaper quoted Mohammad-Reza Khatami as saying that Mohammad Khatami, the reformist president, "is also in favor of Mr. Aref," and "what I have heard indicates that the main figures of the Hope coalition, who shaped the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections in favor of the reformists and supporters of the government, favor Mr. Aref's presidency in the parliament." According to the newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh, Abdul-Vahid Mousavi Lari also stated that in the first meeting of the Supreme Council for Policy-Making of Reformists after the second round of elections, "the issue of the presidency of the parliament was raised, and the council unanimously considered Mohammad-Reza Aref, who was the first in the national elections, as the president of the parliament," but "this proposal is for the parties to the elected representatives who gather in the Hope faction, and ultimately they will decide who the president of the parliament will be." The newspaper Etemad dedicated its front page to the start of the electoral work of the principlists "a year ahead of schedule" and wrote that "Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the secretary-general of the Society of Clergy, has announced the beginning of principlist meetings for the presidential elections." The newspaper Shargh in its Sunday issue wrote: "35 years after the bombing of the Prime Minister's office, Massoud Kashmiri has been arrested." [In follow-up news, the arrested individual has been identified as a woman.] This newspaper, referring to the statements of Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, the spokesman for the police, about the "arrest of the perpetrator of the bombing of the Prime Minister's office of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Albania," wrote: "It is very likely that Montazer al-Mahdi is referring to none other than Massoud Kashmiri." According to this newspaper, Massoud Kashmiri, the main suspect in the bombing of the Prime Minister's office of the Islamic Republic, was a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization who managed to infiltrate to the level of deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, one of the most sensitive security and decision-making bodies in the country. Shargh pointed out that "the image of Kashmiri as a righteous-looking person, holding a prayer bead and engaging in supplication and leading prayers in sessions" was a mental image formed before the bombing of the Prime Minister's office, stating: "He always carried two pens in his pocket; one for writing personal notes that he claimed to have bought with his salary and the other for state affairs belonging to public property," while "he occasionally made bold proposals" and "once suggested bombing the Mojahedin's radio station." According to this newspaper, Massoud Kashmiri was "trusted enough that when moving around the Prime Minister's office, he was not subjected to body searches. He took whatever he wanted in and out." However, he was ultimately identified as the main suspect in the bombing of the Prime Minister's office on September 8, 1981, an explosion that killed Mohammad Ali Rajai and Mohammad Javad Bahonar, the then President and Prime Minister. Shargh wrote: "An interesting point regarding Kashmiri's arrest is that about a month ago, a Telegram channel published news of Kashmiri's arrest, a channel that was shut down after this news was released," and it also stated: "If all this news is true and Kashmiri is in custody in Iran, the future could hold many revelations and untold stories." The newspaper Etemad, however, interpreted Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi's statements as "the arrest of the suspect in the bombing of the Islamic Republic Party's office" and wrote: "The spokesman for the police did not announce the name of the arrested individual," but "the first name that comes to mind in this regard is Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi," a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization who was identified as the infiltrator of this group in the Islamic Republic Party and was introduced as the perpetrator of the bombing of this party's office in 1981, an explosion that resulted in the deaths of Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti, the secretary-general of this party, the then head of the Supreme Court, and the deputy speaker of the Assembly of Experts, along with figures such as Mohammad Montazeri, the son of Ayatollah Hosseini Ali Montazeri. The newspaper Kayhan dedicated its front page to the remarks of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in a gathering of clerics and seminary students in Tehran, describing "confronting doubts as the greatest jihad of clerics and students" and wrote: "The virtual space is the real battlefield; be armed and ready." The newspaper Vatan-e Emruz reported on the "organization of foreign languages" and wrote that following "the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic's criticism of the insistence on promoting the English language in the country," the issue of "foreign languages in schools will soon be reviewed in the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council." According to this newspaper, "only a few days have passed since the statements of Mehdi Navid Adham, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Education, about the introduction of five foreign languages into schools from next year to prepare the infrastructure, when on Saturday, Esfandiar Chehrband, the director of education in Tehran, also announced the review of foreign languages in schools in the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council," stating that "the organization of foreign language education in schools will be discussed in this council." Vatan-e Emruz also quoted Ali Zarafshan, the Deputy Minister of Secondary Education, about "holding a session of the Supreme Revolutionary Cultural Council with the presence of Ali Asghar Fani, the Minister of Education," stating: "The Minister of Education is supposed to present a report on the status of foreign language education in education in this council." The newspaper Arman reported on the "arrest of 15 lawyers" in the city of Sorkhroud in Mazandaran province and quoted "the head of the protection and information of the judiciary in this province as saying that on May 23, based on reports received about "the presence of several lawyers at a nighttime party in a villa in Sorkhroud county" and "after obtaining a warrant, agents entered the residence of the defendants, who were dressed inappropriately and indecently, along with the consumption of alcoholic beverages and in a mixed gathering, and arrested them along with a quantity of alcoholic beverages and instruments of entertainment, and handed them over to judicial authorities." Nabiollah Moslemi announced that "the number of detainees is more than 15," adding that "of this number, two lawyers were from the provinces of Qom and Golestan." The newspaper Arman also has a report about the prison population in Iran, stating that Mohammad Farajihas, the director of criminal law and international law at Tarbiat Modares University, announced on Saturday at a press conference on "restorative justice and crime prevention" that "the existence of many criminal titles has increased the prison population in Iran to three times the capacity of the prisons, and there are about 200,000 prisoners in Iran, while every year 500,000 people are sent to prison." The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its front page titled "15 Billion Dollar Extortion by European Banks from Iran," wrote: "Several European banks have informally stated that they are willing to resume banking transactions with Iran on the condition that Iran compensates for America's billion-dollar fines and guarantees for future fines." This newspaper also has a report titled "160,000 Tomans of Extortion Money for Complaints Against Doctors," stating: "Sometimes patients suffer serious injuries due to medical malpractice. In such cases, the family of the patient must first pay 160,000 Tomans for medical commission fees, and if the doctor or patient objects to the commission's ruling, this fee is 220,000 Tomans for the second time and 350,000 Tomans for the third time." The newspaper Shahrvand dedicated its front page on May 26 to "the concern of 142 university professors about the expansion of land grabbing" and reported on the escalation of opposition to the ninth parliament's plan regarding "preserving the agricultural land use." According to this newspaper, "many experts in the field of natural resources in the country believe that this plan, which states that all national lands that were illegally occupied before 1995 should remain in the possession of the offenders, intentionally or unintentionally promotes and encourages land grabbing and practically paves the way for profiteers to encroach on the natural resources of the country." The newspaper Shahrvand simultaneously quoted the spokesman for the police as saying: "The undercover patrols are neither noticeable nor will they be discontinued," but rather the agents of the undercover patrols have begun their activities in Tehran and "these individuals will not be noticeable."