The End of the Concerned Ones' Season

Saeed Hajarian, a reformist figure, analyzed the results of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections in an interview with the Etemad newspaper, stating: "In this election, we faced more of a division between the supporters and non-supporters of the JCPOA than between reformists and conservatives," noting that the conservative list in Tehran was "non-JCPOA." Hajarian also proposed that the next parliament, the tenth, should approve a new electoral law to turn "all of Iran into a single electoral district." He emphasized that "the electoral system should be such that all groups and social bases have seats in parliament proportional to their weight." He suggested that if all of Iran were to become a single electoral district, "first, based on a national election across the country, it should be determined what percentage of votes and seats each coalition, group, and party has, after which parties would introduce their representatives to the Guardian Council for qualification checks." The headline "Elections at the Finish Line" is a report in the Shargh newspaper, which emphasized: "On Friday, the 10th of Ordibehesht, the 7th of Esfand, was repeated." Kayhan newspaper also noted that on Friday, the 10th of Ordibehesht, "people went to the polls in 55 electoral districts to determine the fate of the remaining 68 seats and close the file of the tenth parliamentary elections," reporting on the "enthusiastic presence of people in the second round of the tenth parliamentary elections." Ebtekar newspaper headlined "The End of the Concerned Ones' Season," stating that with the presidency in 2013 and the parliamentary elections, "many extremists have been removed from the political activities of the country." Jala Jalali-zadeh, a former member of parliament, told this newspaper regarding the fate of extremists: "I believe extremists will not retreat from the political scene and will utilize their financial backing to rebuild themselves and establish connections with the public by increasing expectations and demands, creating dissatisfaction in society." He added that "some extremists are currently trying to gather supporters for themselves, although there is a possibility that they will not be able to return to the political arena at least until the next term to govern the country and sit in power." The newspaper Tejarat mentioned the "efforts of government opponents to create distractions in the elections" and assessed the second round of elections, stating: "Although government opposition groups were trying in the days leading up to the second round of the tenth parliamentary elections to increase their weight in the final list of candidates by raising peripheral issues such as the interference of state institutions in the elections, the second sequence of the tenth parliamentary elections began yesterday in 55 electoral districts under conditions that speculation indicates the continued success of the Hope list in the second round of elections." Khorasan newspaper focused on the "explanations of the Deputy Security Minister regarding the incidents in Mamassani" on election day, reporting that "Hosseini Zolfaqari, the Deputy Security Minister, stated that the initial investigations show that these unrests were a non-security issue and were actually a reaction from the supporters of the candidates." The newspaper reported that on Friday during the second round of elections in Mamassani, "some individuals randomly fired shots in the city, resulting in four injuries," while the governor of Mamassani, Roham Pekari, reported the arrest of 25 individuals in this regard. Political reformist activist, Rasoul Montajebnia, wrote in a note in the Arman newspaper that "the Ministry of Interior, despite the flaws and issues regarding some dismissals and appointments, performed very well in conducting the elections; because this ministry refused to accept a specific list that some had presented regarding disqualifications." The Arman columnist pointed out that "a list was prepared a year before the elections, insisting that executive bodies should base their qualification checks on this list instead of consulting the four sources," emphasizing that "the Ministry of Interior stood firm against this request and only acted based on inquiries from the four sources in its qualification checks." Montajebnia also noted that "there are several criticisms regarding disqualifications, including that this ministry could have reduced the scope of disqualifications through more negotiations with institutions like the Guardian Council, which is a complaint reformists have against the Ministry of Interior, the government, and Mr. President himself," just as "the Ministry of Interior is facing a test regarding the third elected representative from Isfahan," and the government and the Ministry of Interior "should negotiate on this matter to reach a resolution that is closer to the law." Etemad newspaper also highlighted the "defense of a credential" referring to the explicit stance of the President regarding the disqualification of Minoo Khalighi, the third elected representative from Isfahan by the Guardian Council, quoting Hassan Rouhani as saying: "The elected representative of the people is examined by the parliament, not any other institution." This newspaper emphasized that "the government, parliament, and Ministry of Interior are all seeking to defend the credentials of the third elected representative from Isfahan," but Ali Motahari, in a letter to Hassan Rouhani, called for practical action in this regard, writing: "Please issue the order for Minoo Khalighi's credential." Morteza Moghaddam, the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior during the reformist government, also described the Guardian Council's action in disqualifying Minoo Khalighi as a "new electoral precedent," writing: "As many individuals, officials, and legal experts have repeatedly stated, there is no provision in the electoral law that allows the Guardian Council to disqualify anyone after the elections and invalidate the results of those elected by the people." The columnist of the Vaghaye Ettefaghieh newspaper also noted: "The widespread sensitivity surrounding this issue is due to these new precedents; because this new precedent is not in the interest of the system and must be prevented from occurring." The Farhikhtegan newspaper reported on the occasion of International Workers' Day with the headline "Livelihood and Job Security on the Agenda," stating: "Determining workers' wages in accordance with inflation, improving livelihoods, increasing housing allowances, allocating essential goods vouchers, and expanding insurance books were among the government's promises to the working group, which, although not all were realized during the three years of Rouhani's government due to economic challenges, controlling the rising inflation rate was an important step towards improving workers' livelihoods." According to this newspaper, Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, who has repeatedly stated that workers' livelihoods have improved, including mentioning that "10 million people have been added to the number of insured individuals in the eleventh government, and 90% of the new main insured individuals are workers," also announced on Friday that "I am responsible for the livelihoods and job security of workers." Hassan Heftetan, the Deputy Minister of Labor, also told this newspaper: "The housing allowance is set to increase from 20,000 tomans to 40,000 tomans to alleviate workers' concerns in this regard." Hamid Haj Asmaeili, a labor activist, referred to the government's significant promises in the first year of its activities to improve workers' livelihoods, stating: "Among the most important was the allocation of essential goods vouchers for this group, but in this regard, these vouchers were provided to all groups besides workers." This labor activist also mentioned "five to six rounds of essential goods packages" as another promise that has not been fulfilled, stating: "The government was proposed to provide housing deposit loans to workers so that they could manage their lives with low wages, but this proposal was also not implemented due to the problems the government faced." The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, emphasized that "responding to workers' demands is a practical action in achieving a resistant economy," criticizing the government's economic programs, stating: "The closure of industrial centers and an 11% increase in unemployment while some officials talk about employment." The Hamdeli newspaper, however, reported on "independent organizations" as the "absent in the Iranian labor community," quoting Abdollah Vatan-Khah, the Deputy Chairman of the Tehran Workers' Representatives Assembly, stating: "Our society lacks independent labor organizations because the cost of [activities] for organizations is very high." Abdollah Vatan-Khah also commented on last year's events during a workers' gathering, stating: "The bad thing that happened was that I used derogatory language against Afghan neighbors; how is it that capital is free to go wherever it wants? But if I, a worker, come from Afghanistan to Iran to work, that is a problem? Just as capital is free, labor should also be free to offer itself." The Hamdeli newspaper also quoted the head of the Supreme Council of Islamic Labor Councils stating: "Increasing job security is the most important demand of workers." The Qanoon newspaper has a report on "the tragic story of Maryam and her sons," stating: "The painful story of the torture of Azam and her children is still making headlines, and this time, nearby the southern Tehran railway line, Maryam and her three children are enduring days due to the torture and addiction of the family man." Farshid Esmaeili, in a report for Qanoon newspaper, noted that "Mohammad, Maryam's eldest son, is forced to skip school due to his addicted father. His foot is severely swollen and has a serious infection," adding that "Hassan, Maryam's second son," has "not received any vaccinations in his four years of life and is at risk of contracting any disease. Poor nutrition and living alongside addicted parents have made Hassan a weak and vulnerable child who has seen dark days in their 9-square-meter room, from the intoxication of his parents to the tortures inflicted by his delusional addicted father on him and his mother and brother." The Qanoon newspaper reported that after Maryam's husband beat her, resulting in broken teeth, "after leaving her house, Reza, the 6-month-old baby, stays with his father, but now the landlord says, 'that same night of the fight, Maryam's husband took Reza with him and returned without the child,' saying that 'he sold Reza for 150,000 tomans.'" This newspaper also headlined "Censorship of a President," stating: "The President's remarks at the conference with the elected representatives of city and village councils contained important parts that were censored by state television and many media outlets." Simultaneously, the Vatan-e-Emruz newspaper headlined its Saturday issue with Abdullah Javadi Amoli's criticism of "the American side's non-compliance with its commitments in the nuclear agreement," quoting this senior cleric in Qom as saying: "The JCPOA should not lead to slavery." Kayhan newspaper also criticized the Central Bank of Iran in its Saturday issue, referring to what it described as "handing over the key to Iran's banking information to the U.S.," stating: "The Central Bank has entrusted the sensitive task of identifying and discovering fraud in the country's electronic payment network, Shaparak, to the American company SAS."