The 'House of Parties' Will Be Reopened After Four Years

The Iran newspaper reported on the holding of an 'Extraordinary Assembly of the House of Parties' on Thursday, May 31, with the presence of representatives from 180 parties. The Arman newspaper, on the eve of June 5, the day of the 'election of the board of directors for the final year of this parliamentary term,' noted the political alignment in the parliament, quoting conservative representative Abdolreza Masri, stating that the results of the board elections are unpredictable, but likely 'the president and deputies will remain.' The Javan newspaper published a report emphasizing that one year after the announcement of the policies desired by the Supreme Leader by the eleventh government, not only has the population of Iran 'gently grown,' but 'National Population Day' is set to replace 'World Population Day.' The Aftab Yazd newspaper dedicated its front page to 'Fatemeh Motamed-Arya,' a prominent Iranian actress, and a report about the actions of state television in 'removing the names of actors from the credits of old series' during replays on television. The statements made by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on Wednesday were highlighted on the front pages of most newspapers on Thursday, May 31, with conservative-leaning newspapers paying special attention to them. The Kayhan newspaper, in its front-page headline, emphasized that the Supreme Leader stated, 'I will never allow,' referring to Ali Khamenei's opposition to 'inspections of military facilities and interrogations of scientists.' The Vatan-e-Emruz and Vatan-e-Emruz newspapers also dedicated their front pages to this part of Ayatollah Khamenei's remarks, while two other conservative newspapers, Resalat and Siyasat-e-Rooz, referenced his comments about 'Iran's hard response to proxy wars.' The Shargh newspaper also reported on its front page, quoting the Supreme Leader, stating: 'I will not allow foreigners to interrogate our scientists and children' and 'inspections of military facilities will not be permitted.' The Etemad newspaper also quoted the Supreme Leader on its front page, stating: 'I do not allow inspections and interrogations.' The Etemad newspaper published a photo of Mohsen Rezaei, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, in military attire alongside the Supreme Leader, emphasizing the return of 'General' Rezaei, stating: 'Mohsen Rezaei appeared in military attire at an official IRGC ceremony after 18 years and recited the Takbir in the presence of the Leader of the Revolution.' This newspaper also dedicated its front page to Hassan Rouhani's visit to the Constitutional House in Tabriz, quoting the President as saying: 'Do not shout slogans from the people's pockets.' The Arman newspaper also dedicated its front page to welcoming Hassan Rouhani in Tabriz, quoting him as saying: 'They have no right to shout slogans from the people's pockets.' Sabah Zangeneh, a former advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and a senior foreign policy expert in Iran, stated in an interview with the Arman newspaper that 'Saudi Arabia and the UAE are seeking nuclear weapons.' The Law newspaper, in its front-page headline on Thursday, emphasized that 'ISIS is not very far away,' stating: 'Less than 48 hours ago, the news of ISIS forces reaching Ramadi shocked the Middle East and Iraq, and the ISIS forces, whose emergence in Iraq and rapid movement between Syria and Iraq surprised many, once again highlighted the inability of Iraqi security forces.' The 'House of Parties' will be reopened after four years. The Iran newspaper reported on the holding of an 'Extraordinary Assembly of the House of Parties' on Thursday, May 31. This newspaper noted that 'on Thursday morning, the large hall of the Ministry of Interior will open to 180 parties that are set to gather again under the umbrella of the House of Parties after nearly four years,' stating: 'This is the largest gathering of parties in the past four years, and its most important agenda is to determine the number of members of the central council and, if possible, elect members.' According to the Iran newspaper, 'the parties affiliated with the Front of Followers of the Line of Imam and Leadership, which had previously set preconditions for their participation, will also attend the extraordinary general assembly of the House of Parties,' but despite 'the majority of parties' willingness to participate in this meeting, only organizations that have received activity permits from the Ministry of Interior have been invited.' The newspaper reminded that 'the House of Parties' is a civil and professional institution established in 1999, coinciding with the political development policy of the reformist government, to 'bring together registered parties and organizations, regardless of political preferences, ideological differences, and factional competition, to practice interaction and dialogue based on commonalities and to pursue their professional demands and requests.' It was even noted that 'the then-government provided a building for this institution and, after a while, facilitated the quantitative and qualitative growth of party activity by allocating subsidies to parties.' The Iran newspaper stated that the support of the Ministry of Interior for the House of Parties changed with the coming to power of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in 2005. 'The explicit statements of the former president against parties and party activity, along with the constant changes of senior officials in the Ministry of Interior, gradually made the continuation of the House of Parties' activities difficult. In the first year of the ninth government, the subsidies for parties approved in the last budget of the reformist government were divided among several parties, and subsequently, the budget line for party subsidies was permanently eliminated.' The emergence of disagreements during the 'election of the central council of the House of Parties in the third round' peaked with the unrest following the presidential election in 2009, according to the Iran newspaper, and 'the sealing of the House of Parties under the pretext of not renewing the activity permit, confiscation of the documents and records of this institution, and ultimately the evacuation of the building that was allocated to the House of Parties marked the end of this professional institution's activities during the previous government.' The Iran newspaper stated that with the coming to power of the eleventh government, which promised 'to open the political space and provide a platform for the free activity of parties,' various parties in Iran demanded the reopening of the 'House of Parties,' and the Ministry of Interior also 'formed an executive committee consisting of representatives of parties to realize this demand, which has been pursuing the revival of the only professional institution of parties since last year.' On Wednesday, after a joint meeting of the executive board of the 'House of Parties,' the Front of Followers and the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior, Kamal Sajadi, the spokesperson of the Front of Followers, announced that this organization would also participate in the extraordinary general assembly of the House of Parties, but is seriously pursuing amendments to the statute.' In the Thursday meeting of the House of Parties, the number and method of electing the central council will likely be proposed and put to a vote. The Iran newspaper stated: 'Although some members of the executive committee are seeking to hold the central council elections at this meeting, it is possible that the internal elections of the House of Parties will be postponed and held a few days later at the ordinary general assembly.' Additionally, 'another topic is the allocation of a building for this institution, as the previous government reclaimed the House of Parties building, and now, although the Ministry of Interior has provided the large hall of this ministry for holding the general assembly, it seems that there is still a long way to go before the House of Parties has a permanent home.' The political alignment in the parliament is in the spotlight ahead of the 'election of the board of directors.' The Arman newspaper, while examining the political alignment in the ninth parliament ahead of the 'election of the board of directors for the final year of this parliamentary term,' quoted conservative representative Abdolreza Masri, stating that the results of the board elections are unpredictable, but likely 'the president and deputies will remain.' This newspaper noted that 'as the fifth of June approaches, and the date of the board elections nears, discussions of coalitions and alliances within the parliament for the board positions have increased, and among them, the speculation of an alliance between the Followers faction and conservatives is more pronounced; a topic that, although faced with serious opposition from some members of the Followers, Abdolreza Masri, the head of the Coalition Party faction, states that if this happens, it would be very pleasant.' Abdolreza Masri, in an interview with the Arman newspaper about the elections for the final year of the parliament's board of directors, stated: 'Until the elections are held, whether in the board or in the commissions, and even the selection of an observer before the counting of votes, nothing is predictable; for example, the votes given to the two ministers of roads and labor were all beyond predictions, but the parliament voted and was convinced. Therefore, it must be said that parliamentary elections are unpredictable, but for the board elections, it can be guessed that [Ali Larijani] the president of the parliament and two deputies will be specified; in other words, evidence shows that the president and deputies will definitely be voted for, but for other members of the board and commissions, we must wait.' This parliament representative also commented on the possibility of changing Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the second deputy of the ninth parliament, stating: 'What I perceive is that it seems unlikely that the president and deputies will change; however, it must be emphasized again that nothing is predictable, and unexpected events can also occur.' According to the Arman newspaper, Abdolreza Masri spoke about the possibility of an alliance between the two factions 'Followers of the Wilayat' and 'Conservatives' in the board elections, stating that at the beginning of the formation of the ninth parliament, the separation of these two factions 'was not based on an ideology, and this separation was more around the presidency; some formed the Followers to support Ali Larijani, and others formed a faction to support Gholamali Haddad Adel. Therefore, I think there is fundamentally no difference between the two, and the Followers were formed solely for the presidency of the parliament.' The replacement of 'National Population Day' with 'World Population Day.' The Javan newspaper, while publishing a report emphasizing that one year after the announcement of the policies desired by the Supreme Leader by the eleventh government, not only has the population of Iran 'gently grown,' but 'National Population Day' is set to replace 'World Population Day.' According to this newspaper, 'the Civil Registration Organization has proposed that May 30, the anniversary of the announcement of the general population policies, be designated as National Population Day, as the population policies of the United Nations Population Fund are not aligned with national population policies in Iran.' Zahra Chidari, in a report for the Javan newspaper, wrote: 'Exactly one year after the announcement of these policies by Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president, to the agencies for implementation,' Ali Akbar Mahzoun, the director-general of information and statistics at the Civil Registration Organization, announced that 'according to the latest information, the fertility rate has currently started to grow gently, and statistics show that the births in 2014 increased by 4.2 percent compared to the previous year, but this issue needs to be monitored to see if this growth remains sustainable or not.' The Javan newspaper described the statements of the director-general of information and statistics at the Civil Registration Organization as somewhat stemming from a 'optimistic view,' stating: 'At first glance, even a gentle increase in population is encouraging, but upon closer examination, data emerges that replaces the optimistic view with a realistic one. According to Ali Akbar Mahzoun, this growth is likely due to a departure from having a single child and may be the result of childbirth from marriages that occurred in previous years and were delayed in childbirth.' This newspaper also quoted the director-general of information and statistics at the Civil Registration Organization regarding the impact of the declining marriage trend in Iran on the fertility rate, stating: 'The decrease in the growth of marriages began in 2011 with 1.9 percent, reached 5.1 percent in 2012, 6.7 percent in 2013, and 6.5 percent in 2014,' while 'until 2010, the trend of marriages was positive.' According to the latest statistics, the average age of marriage for men has reached 28.1 years and for women 23.5 years, while 'in 2013, the average age of marriage for men was 27.8 and for women 23.1.' This newspaper stated that the increase in population is part of the general policies and noted that one year has passed since the '14-point command of the Supreme Leader' for 'ensuring a population commensurate with the current and future conditions and needs of Iran,' stating that 'according to the general population policies, the fertility rate must rise above the replacement level to 2.1 percent,' and 'removing barriers to marriage, facilitating and promoting family formation and increasing childbirth, reducing the age of marriage, and supporting young couples and providing appropriate facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are among the issues addressed in these policies. Additionally, strengthening the family foundation and promoting an Iranian-Islamic lifestyle against Western lifestyles, enhancing life expectancy, and preventing social harms are other aspects of these policies.' The Law newspaper: 'ISIS is not far away.' The Law newspaper, in its front-page headline on Thursday, emphasized that 'ISIS is not very far away,' stating: 'Less than 48 hours ago, the news of ISIS forces reaching Ramadi shocked the Middle East and Iraq, and the ISIS forces, whose emergence in Iraq and rapid movement between Syria and Iraq surprised many, once again highlighted the inability of Iraqi security forces.' This newspaper stated: 'After ISIS, in the summer of 2014, took control of Mosul in less than 24 hours with the help of the fleeing governor of Nineveh, this time, in an unpredictable move, they have reached Ramadi.' The Law newspaper emphasized that 'news sources once again speak of ISIS's movement towards Baghdad, a goal they have always pursued,' stating: 'Baghdad, as the capital and heart of Iraq, has always been an important target for ISIS terrorists, and now the Al-Jazeera news agency has reported that despite the dispatch of many government and popular mobilization forces to fight ISIS in Anbar, some Iraqi sources have reported that the forces of this terrorist group have reached the vicinity of Abu Ghraib, in the western outskirts of Baghdad.'