Speculations by a Newspaper Close to the IRGC About Hassan Rouhani's One-Term Presidency

The newspapers Shargh, Etemad, Iran, and several others close to reformists published reports on the first session of the court for the defendants of the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy in their Tuesday editions. These reports do not mention the names or photos of the defendants, but parts of their statements in court are noted. Almost all newspapers close to the principlists, however, did not publish any news or reports about the court of the defendants of the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy, at least not on their front pages. Etemad, in its headline "We Regret," wrote: "Regret" was the first and last defense of the incident-makers at the Farahani crossroads; "incident-makers who turned the Saudi embassy premises into a gathering place for youths who, according to themselves, could not bear the crimes of the Al Saud and sought to express their protest only through slogans, have now found themselves in court after six months." Rezvaneh Rezaei Pour, in her report for Etemad, noted that on Tuesday, "21 people lined up to defend themselves against the indictment" issued against them for "participating in the intentional destruction of the Saudi embassy's property" and "disturbing public order through riots and illegal gatherings." The defendants of the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy introduced themselves in court as "Hezbollah kids" and notably criticized the police forces responsible for protecting the embassy building. This newspaper emphasized the existence of "commonalities" among the defendants of the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran, stating that they "all referred to a common text message from Telegram channels" linked to a center and the calls of six members of a "delegation" who had summoned them to gather in front of the Saudi embassy. Shargh also reported on its front page titled "Public Attackers on the Embassy," stating that the first session of the trial of the assailants on the Saudi embassy was held publicly on Tuesday morning in Branch 1060 of the Criminal Court 2 at the Special Judicial Complex for Government Employees' Crimes, presided over by Judge Farshid Dehghani. In 14 of the 21 defendants, they presented their defenses, and the next session is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The report from Shargh referenced the statements of the "first defendant" in this case, who said: "I read in groups attributed to the IRGC that a gathering would be held to protest the Al Saud regime, and considering the massacre of people in Mina, the Jeddah airport incident, and other crimes occurring in Yemen and Syria, I felt that a protest should be made for the people of Gaza, who are mostly Shiite." Among the defendants of the attack on the Saudi Arabian embassy, according to Shargh, the sixth defendant was not present, but Mohammad Narimani, the lawyer for this defendant, stated that "my client is from Syria and is a defender of the shrine." According to this newspaper, when the lawyer for this "Syrian" defendant requested "acquittal" for his client in court, the Tehran prosecutor's representative said, "All the embassy's cameras have been reviewed, and the results show that one of the main factors of the gathering was your client," and Judge Farshid Dehghani, by reading the text of messages sent by this defendant to his lawyer, said: "There is a lot of evidence. Your client was one of the main members and leaders of the gathering." Shargh also wrote that another defendant of the attack on the Saudi embassy, in his defense, stated: "We were in the 2009 sedition and at the university dormitory, we were beaten as well; we pay the price every day to defend the revolution." This defendant emphasized that "I accept that the gathering was illegal, but no destruction occurred. There was a fire there. Even one of the kids brought milk, and we said do not drink it; it is forbidden." The newspaper Javan, close to the IRGC, emphasized in its Tuesday edition that "the JCPOA" and "astronomical salaries" will be two determining factors in Iran's 2016 presidential election. Mohammad Esmaeili, in a report for Javan, stressed that "the Achilles' heel of the eleventh government" is these two issues, stating that "each of them alone can guarantee the presence of a candidate other than Hassan Rouhani in the twelfth presidential seat because each of these two factors has challenged many of the wishes and demands of society." According to this newspaper, "both supporters and opponents of the JCPOA are trying to create a narrative for themselves based on the results of the JCPOA, arguing about what achievements or threats it has brought, in order to steer public opinion towards their own faction or candidate and ultimately celebrate victory in the elections." The newspaper close to the IRGC predicts that Hassan Rouhani's presidency will be "one-term," writing that now "on one hand, people feel no positive change in their living and economic conditions due to the JCPOA, and on the other hand, they observe the weakening of social justice due to the growth of financial corruption among government managers," while Hassan Rouhani's promises during the 2013 presidential election campaign included "numerous and visible economic openings in the event of a nuclear agreement with the West" and "fighting discrimination and economic corruption" in society; "promises that have not been fulfilled and have become a factor for Hassan Rouhani's one-term presidency." Mohammad Reza Tajik, a reformist figure, told the Arman newspaper that the eleventh government is more likely to suffer from internal blows than external ones and that "scenarios against Mr. Rouhani's government will continue until the elections," but "if Mr. Rouhani's government does not hear the footsteps of the future, it will be done by left and right opponents before the presidential elections. If Mr. Rouhani's government wants its four-year term to be extended to eight years, it must demonstrate efficiency and capability over the next year and respond appropriately to the immediate and tangible needs of the people." This reformist figure emphasized that until the 2016 presidential elections, "Hassan Rouhani's government will face a chain of scenarios that will gradually reveal new cards," stating: "The main goal of these chain scenarios is to bring the government to the streets. In my opinion, the rational force (think tank) of the current government must become more active. I see the problem of the current government in its rational force. Hassan Rouhani's government is seriously facing a lack of rational force." According to the Arman newspaper, Mohammad Reza Tajik also stated that some are shaping a reform project without "reformism," but "reformism that cannot create ideas, policies, theories, and schools is not reformism. Reformism that only thinks about political arrangements and competition with its rival at critical moments and only thinks about how to defeat its rival is not reformism. We must not allow reformism to become hollow from within, leaving only a name behind." He also said: "Some individuals who were once ministers or representatives and considered themselves generals have developed a kind of psychological superiority over others and do not allow new blood to flow into the reform movement. We must "break the barriers" in this regard, and "this layer must respectfully step aside to create opportunities for the new generation to emerge. If they do not step aside, the new generation will push them aside." The Islamic Republic newspaper dedicated its front page to "revealing new dimensions of the financial relations between Babak Zanjani and Saeed Mortazavi," writing: "The disappearance of a 17 trillion toman check from social security, the sale of a 10,000-square-meter parking lot of the Homa Hotel in Tehran for one-tenth of its actual value, the sale of 138 social security companies to Babak Zanjani, granting millions of tomans in gift cards to some members of parliament, etc., are among the actions that occurred during Saeed Mortazavi's tenure at social security, which has created a multi-faceted financial crime with large numbers, although Babak Zanjani played a prominent and active role in these events." This newspaper noted that "the mutual relationship between Saeed Mortazavi and Babak Zanjani has resulted in one of the largest financial crimes in the country in recent years, although the complexity and diversity of this crime have led it to be less prominent in public consciousness compared to other corruption cases." It stated that now "the case of Saeed Mortazavi's violations at social security has resurfaced with the recent comments of Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Attorney General of the country, about the Homa hotels and the response of the former CEO of the social security organization." The Iran newspaper reported on the "warning of the implementation of the registration plan from the beginning of August," asking whether "iPhones will be removed from the market," quoting Abbas Nakhai, the director of the Targeted Goods Smuggling Combat Office, stating: "Apple has the opportunity to establish a representative office in the country only before the implementation of the registration plan; otherwise, all iPhone devices will be removed from the market and will not be able to be registered at all." However, some Apple product sellers in Iran told this newspaper: "This decision is very questionable. For example, what should a user of this phone living abroad do upon entering Iran, and where should they go to be able to use it?" They added that "it is customary to make a public announcement and inform the people so that other companies can also declare their readiness for the official import of iPhones, and this matter should not be solely in the hands of a few specific companies." Gholamhossein Karimi, the head of the telecommunications devices union, expressed ignorance about the announcement of the removal of iPhones from the market in Iran, stating: "In this regard, no negotiations have been held with the people's telecommunications devices union, which is a civil organization composed of importers, sellers, etc., and therefore, we have no information about this matter and do not know on what basis and source this statement was made and where this decision was made." Qasem Khorshidi, the spokesman for the Anti-Smuggling Goods and Currency Headquarters, confirmed this news in an interview with the Iran newspaper, stating that "the registration plan will be implemented experimentally from the beginning of August for two months to identify its problems, and after that, the system will be officially activated." The spokesman for the Anti-Smuggling Goods and Currency Headquarters said: "The issue of passenger accompanying goods has been considered in the registration discussion, and an exemption of 80 dollars has been considered for it. For those whose phone prices exceed this, arrangements have been made that the regulatory organization is more aware of the details," but "non-standard phones, meaning phones that do not have official representation in the country and are brought in as passenger accompanying goods, will not be registered." The Hamdeli newspaper reported on the "closure of kindergartens with mixed pools," quoting Ebrahim Ghafari, the deputy for social affairs of Tehran's welfare organization, stating: "No kindergarten has the right to hold mixed pool sessions, and if it commits such an offense, that kindergarten will be closed." This official referred to the fact that "last week, following a report of mixed pool sessions in kindergartens, we visited kindergartens with pools, which number less than a handful, and found no cases in these kindergartens," stating: "If a kindergarten has an extracurricular activity titled 'mixed pools,' it has committed an offense, and we will definitely deal with this entity because a directive has been issued for compliance with regulations and standards to all kindergartens." The Shahrvand newspaper reported with the headline "Pokémon in the Streets of Tehran," stating: "The Pokémon Go game, which was released on July 6, gained immense popularity in its first week of release. The number of users of this game in the United States, New Zealand, and Germany has reached 21 million active users. The increasing popularity of this game worldwide caused the value of Nintendo's stock on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to rise by 16.8 percent on Thursday, July 16." According to this newspaper, "currently, Iranian IPs cannot connect to the game servers, and to experience Pokémon Go, this barrier must be overcome," however, "many Iranian users have already joined this game."