The End of Sharif Culture

The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has dedicated its front page headline and photo to the Supreme Leader's renewed attack on Saudi Arabia, quoting Ayatollah Khamenei as saying: "The wicked and cursed tree of the Al Saud does not deserve to manage the Hajj," and "This reality must be promoted and established in the Islamic world." According to this newspaper, the Supreme Leader stated: "The Saudi rulers' refusal to give a verbal apology is the peak of their audacity and shamelessness." Simultaneously, the newspaper reported that "Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, during a speech at the Chatham House think tank, repeated his anti-Iranian claims regarding regional issues and the crises in Syria and Yemen, saying: 'We see Iran acting in a very violent and aggressive manner. Iran must decide whether it is a government or a revolution.'" The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Front of Steadfastness, also reported on its front page that the Supreme Leader emphasized the need for various agencies to seriously address the "bloody Hajj disasters" of 2015 during a meeting with the families of the victims of last year's Mina and Masjid al-Haram incidents, stating: "A fact-finding committee must be formed." This newspaper simultaneously attacked the regional policy of Hassan Rouhani's government in its editorial, stating: "The cursed tree of the Saudis tears its clothes for its embassy wall, yet the promoters of non-compassionate Islam, witnessing the death of nearly 500 compatriots, are so weak and cold that the families of these victims all suffer from the actions of the gentlemen." Vatan-e-Emruz criticized Hassan Rouhani and his government, who introduce themselves as "promoters of compassionate Islamic values," stating: "It has become clear that even the elders have complaints about this so-called compassionate Islam and the ruthless command of these gentlemen." Mohammad Reza Nouri Shahroudi, former Iranian ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Libya, also stated in an interview with the newspaper Etemad that "tensions between the two countries are increasing, but efforts should be made to prevent further escalation, considering that Iran and Saudi Arabia are neighbors and the two holy shrines are located in that land." He mentioned that "Saudi Arabia obstructed this year and deprived Iranian pilgrims of going to Hajj. They could have prevented this issue with a bit more leniency, and the Hajj would not have been canceled. On the other hand, Iran must also prevent the repetition of events that could exacerbate relations, such as attacks on Saudi representations." The former ambassador also noted that the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran "provided an excuse for the Saudis to cut off relations with us and for the parties to become colder than before, resulting in the cancellation of Hajj and making follow-ups more difficult," but "I believe that the continuation of the current situation will be detrimental to both countries, even though the initial and main culprit is Riyadh; however, attacking their representations in Iran was also not correct, and we saw that the leadership did not approve of it." The newspaper Hamdeli, in its front page titled "Iranians Handcuffed in Media Response to Saudi Arabia," wrote: "While the rulers of Al Saud are employing an army of social media users, especially on the effective and popular Twitter platform, to create an anti-Iran atmosphere, Iranian users, who have previously appeared in powerful virtual campaigns, cannot respond to the Al Saud's dominance due to Twitter filtering restrictions in Iran." According to this newspaper, "One of the methods that Saudi Arabia has employed politically against Iran is the virtual space, especially Twitter," and "Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, has organized a 100,000-member Twitter group since coming to power to serve as his and the Saudi family's media arm," including "the latest actions of this 100,000-member organization, which heated up a hashtag in response to the recent statements of the Supreme Leader." Hamdeli Iran also wrote that "while the use of Twitter has been prioritized by Al Saud, there are restrictions on the use of some social networks such as Twitter in Iran," and "under these restrictions, Saudi Arabia has been able to dominate, and Iran has very little share to counter the Saudi officials." The front page of the newspaper Etemad is titled "Incident After Incident in Tehran," reporting that "three urban incidents have occurred in Tehran over the past ten days, and on Wednesday, the collapse of a wall at a metro construction site injured 20 people, with five remaining trapped under the rubble and three of them likely to die." Journalist Hediyeh Kimiai reported that "the tunnel under construction at the Kian Shahr metro station in southeastern Tehran collapsed on Wednesday around five in the afternoon, trapping 20 metro workers who were working and digging the tunnel under the rubble. Of these workers, 15 were injured, but as of the time of writing the report at 11 PM, there has been no news about the status of five of them, and official reports have classified them as missing." Ahmad Donyamali, head of the Urban Development and Transportation Commission of the Tehran City Council, also told the newspaper: "A serious warning must be given to the municipality to ensure that the safety and stability of the structures it builds, especially the metro, are carried out according to engineering standards, rather than sacrificing safety for speed. Otherwise, this incident could occur after the metro is completed and operational, which could result in an irreparable disaster." At the same time, Hassan Baqerian, head of oil pipeline and telecommunications in Tehran, reported on "the municipality's obstruction in the oil pipeline routes of the capital," telling the newspaper Tejarat that "in some routes of the capital where oil pipelines have passed, we are witnessing construction, and in this regard, we are facing obstruction from the officials of the municipality of various regions of Tehran, which has even led to physical altercations between the personnel of the oil pipeline and telecommunications and the municipality forces in various regions of the capital." The newspaper Shahrvand dedicated its front page to Farhang Sharif, reporting with the headline "The End of Farhang Sharif" and emphasizing that "the series of losing peaks of Iranian music continues," stating: "Farhang Sharif, one of the peaks of Iranian tar playing, passed away yesterday at the age of 85." Reza Namjou in this newspaper emphasized that "experts consider Farhang Sharif to be one of the artists who had a transformative view of Iranian music and, with this perspective and exemplary talent, was able to achieve fame at the age of 17. Those who are aware of the importance of improvisation in Iranian music regard Sharif as one of the best improvisers in Iranian music, who was able to bring the repertoire of Iranian music to the people with his unique playing style." The newspaper Arman printed a portrait of Mohammad Reza Shajarian on its front page and reported that the CEO of the Khorasan Artists Association announced that a memorial ceremony for this prominent figure in Iranian music will be held in Mashhad on October 1. This newspaper referred to the opposition of Ahmad Alam al-Huda, the Imam of Friday prayers in Mashhad, to music concerts and quoted Mehdi Yamini, the CEO of the Khorasan Artists Association, regarding the memorial for Mohammad Reza Shajarian in Mashhad, stating: "Although this movement in Khorasan has its own difficulties and obstacles, efforts will be made to prepare the best possible conditions for holding such a ceremony." The newspaper Shahrvand reported on the increase in the migration of nurses, noting that "more than 1,000 nurses" have migrated in a year and quoted the director of international affairs of the Nursing Organization of the country as stating that the migration of Iranian nurses has increased by 300 percent, citing "discrimination in health system payments and inadequate income for a lot of work" as among the reasons and motivations for nurses' migration.