The Missing Links in the 'Bloody Night of Golpayegan' Incident

The newspaper Shargh highlighted Hassan Rouhani's comments regarding the 'problem of state television in reflecting the government's services' on the front page of its Tuesday issue, also quoting him: 'Some see national power in missile capabilities, but if we have various weapons in the country but are dependent on others for meat, wheat, barley, oil, etc., and our hands are extended outward, power is not achieved.' The newspaper Etemad also covered the simultaneous grievances and warnings from Hassan Rouhani and Ali Shamkhani to the government's critics under the headline 'Rumor-Making as a Tactic of Concern.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan published a report titled 'Public Budget Serving Division,' detailing Ali Shamkhani's revelations about the actions of some media outlets funded by public money, stating that the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council deemed certain actions of these media 'unacceptable,' claiming they 'damage national unity through targeted selective reporting and rumor-mongering.' The newspaper Kayhan quoted Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: 'I have seen no evidence of parliamentary misconduct in the report of the government's withdrawal of $4.1 billion from the National Development Fund, and government officials must comply with the law.' The newspapers Arman and Kaseb o Kar dedicated their front pages to the armed conflict in Khomein and Golpayegan, resulting in at least six deaths and seven injuries among officers and civilians. Kaseb o Kar emphasized: 'The news following the armed robbery incident is contradictory. The number of casualties varies. Some say the robbers stole and set fire to a police car, while others deny it.' Mehrdad Khalili, the editor of Kaseb o Kar, in an editorial titled 'A Bloody Experience and Warnings for the Police,' pointed out issues such as 'the unpreparedness of police forces,' the use of tools and training of these forces 'in areas other than confronting robbers,' and 'the lack of coordination to control and stop the robbers,' noting that in the Golpayegan clashes, 'the provision of contradictory and insufficiently detailed information caused confusion in public opinion and, due to the failure to apprehend the suspects so far, has increased waves of concern and insecurity.' The newspaper Ebrar Eghtesadi reported on 'increasing class divides' during 2014, stating that the Central Bank also confirmed 'the increase in class divides' with its announcement of economic developments for the year 2014. The newspapers Iran, Quds, and Jam-e Jam featured the disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501 on their front pages, while the newspapers Ebtekar, Etemad, Etefaqat, Javan, Jomhouri Eslami, and Hemayat also dedicated one of their front-page headlines to this issue. The newspaper Khorasan, in a report titled 'The Mystery of Malaysian Airlines,' wrote: 'The radio communication of flight '8501 AirAsia,' which was en route to Singapore, was lost 45 minutes after takeoff with the Surabaya airport control tower, complicating the mystery of Malaysian Airlines flights.' This newspaper recalled that 'previously, in November, flight 'MH370' of Malaysia Airlines with 239 passengers disappeared, and despite extensive searches, no trace of this aircraft was found. Then, flight 'MH17' of Malaysia Airlines, which was en route from Amsterdam to Malaysia, was shot down in the crisis-hit region of Ukraine, killing 298 passengers, with no clarity on whether Russia, Ukrainian rebels, or even the Ukrainian government were responsible for the missile strike, as all parties pointed fingers at each other.' The newspaper Javan published the announcement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps regarding the death of 'Brigadier General Hamid Taghavi,' one of its commanders in Iraq, referring to him as one of the 'Ramadan Headquarters commanders' during the war, who was killed while advising the Iraqi army and popular mobilization forces against Takfiri terrorists and ISIS in the city of Samarra. Most newspapers close to the principlists, including Resalat, Siyasat-e Rooz, Hemayat, and Kayhan, dedicated their front page or one of their main headlines to publishing materials against Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and the protesters following the 2009 elections. The newspaper Resalat featured a photo and headline on the statements of Gholamali Haddad-Adel, a principlist representative in the ninth parliament and son-in-law of the Supreme Leader, quoting him: 'The way back for the leaders of the sedition is blocked without an apology.' Despite nearly four years having passed since the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, the newspaper Resalat quoted Gholamali Haddad-Adel stating: 'The seditionists have not yet decided to reconsider their actions.' Morteza Alviri, a figure close to the reformists, emphasized in an interview with the newspaper Arman that 'we must cut off the hands of brokers in the Iran-U.S. relationship.' Morteza Alviri stressed that 'bilateral dialogue between Iran and the U.S. during the nuclear negotiations thawed the ice in Iran-U.S. relations,' stating: 'The government [of Hassan Rouhani] should use bilateral negotiations with the U.S. as a gateway for future negotiations. Currently, we are indirectly communicating with the U.S. on various issues, and this indirect communication has allowed many brokers to gain substantial profits. Why should we let others do what we can do ourselves at a higher cost? We must cut off the brokerage in the Iran-U.S. relationship and engage in direct negotiations with mutual respect.' Hassan Rouhani's criticism of appointed institutions: 'Some see national power in missile capabilities.' The newspaper Shargh highlighted Hassan Rouhani's comments about the 'problem of state television in reflecting the government's services' on the front page of its Tuesday issue, also quoting him: 'Some see national power in missile capabilities, but if we have various weapons in the country but are dependent on others for meat, wheat, barley, oil, etc., and our hands are extended outward, power is not achieved.' According to this newspaper, the President of the 11th government stated on Sunday during the 29th ceremony honoring top agricultural producers: 'Some see national power in missile capabilities. Of course, the armed forces, army, IRGC, Basij, and security forces are our power and strength, but if we have various weapons in the country but are dependent on others for meat, wheat, barley, oil, etc., and our hands are extended outward, power is not achieved.' The newspaper Shargh implicitly assessed this part of Hassan Rouhani's remarks as a response to some military commanders who recently linked the country's power to its military and defensive capabilities. This newspaper also reported that Hassan Rouhani once again criticized the policies of 'state television' regarding the government's handling, stating: 'The media do not help us in reflecting the government's services, and state television uses every opportunity against the government in criticism.' According to the newspaper Shargh, Hassan Rouhani, during his remarks on Sunday at the 29th ceremony honoring top agricultural producers, stated that 'in cabinet meetings, when a minister gets angry about his ministry's affairs and even shouts or bangs on the table, I am genuinely happy that a minister cares and strives for his sector, and when I have to deal with a minister and call him at midnight and he is in his office, it gives me hope that this country is growing.' The newspaper also reported that Hassan Rouhani emphasized that 'we understand how important agriculture is,' stating: 'The government knows how important the presence of farmers and villages is, the government knows how dangerous it is to empty the villages, and we must increase your income and also know that part of your products must be exported.' The newspaper Etemad also covered the simultaneous grievances and warnings from Hassan Rouhani and Ali Shamkhani to the government's critics under the headline 'Rumor-Making as a Tactic of Concern.' This newspaper stated: 'Rumor-mongering, selective reporting, and the formation of think tanks are just a glimpse of the terms used these days for specific critics of the government. The owners of these terms and statements have raised everyone's voice,' and 'the President considers provincial trips the best opportunity to clarify about these specific critics; critics whom the President believes belong to a specific faction and have a specific goal in mind.' According to the newspaper Etemad, Hassan Rouhani stated on Sunday during the 29th ceremony honoring top agricultural producers that 'the government has done great things in the water sector in these 16 months,' saying: 'In expressing the government's services, I do not know how it happens that sometimes problems arise; it is nobody's fault; the language does not move to say what the government has done and what its services are. There must be some issues with the cameras or their transmitters that we should help resolve, and God willing, we will solve them.' This newspaper noted that Hassan Rouhani's criticism of state television indicates that 'from the government's perspective, state television has become a haven for its critics.' Ali Shamkhani's warning to media funded by public money; 'Public budget serving division.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan published a report titled 'Public Budget Serving Division,' detailing Ali Shamkhani's revelations about the actions of some media outlets funded by public money, stating that the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council deemed certain actions of these media 'unacceptable,' claiming they 'damage national unity through targeted selective reporting and rumor-mongering.' According to this newspaper, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, stated on Sunday during a weekly meeting with economic experts of this secretariat: 'Certain actions of media outlets funded by public money, which without regard for professional ethics engage in targeted selective reporting and rumor-mongering, are unacceptable and damage national unity.' Farhikhtegan noted that 'although the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council was speaking in an economic meeting, he did not pass by the atmosphere created by some media against the government's actions indifferently and considered this issue so important that he spoke about it in this economic meeting, thus warning media that use public funds that their actions and news-making would create problems for the country.' This newspaper recalled that Ali Shamkhani 'made this warning without directly mentioning any specific media outlet and did not name any,' reminding that 'a similar warning from Ali Shamkhani' was also issued earlier this year by Hassan Firouzabadi, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, to media outlets associated with certain armed forces, where Hassan Firouzabadi explicitly criticized some media 'affiliated with the armed forces' of Iran and warned them that if they did not change how they cover government news, they would face consequences. The newspaper Farhikhtegan emphasized that despite these warnings, 'the approach of these media, which according to Ali Shamkhani use public funds, towards the government has not changed, and their attacks on the government's policies, both domestic and foreign, continued to the point that the government's voice was raised, and Hassan Rouhani three weeks ago at the national conference on improving administrative health and combating corruption stated: 'If guns, money, newspapers, websites, and advertisements all gather in one place, there will definitely be corruption, do not doubt it.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan described Ali Shamkhani's warning to the media, which according to the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council 'engage in targeted selective reporting and rumor-mongering under the pretext of criticizing the government,' as the second warning from government officials to these media.