The Red Carpet of Street Vendors in the Capital

The speeches of Saeed Hajjarian, Abbas Abdi, and Hamid Reza Jalaei Pour during the "Commemoration of Second Khordad" ceremony at Tehran University have drawn attention from newspapers such as Arman, Etemad, Shargh, Iran, and Shahrvand, among others. The Shargh newspaper described it as a "return after a decade," while Arman reported on the "echo of long live reform" at Tehran University. Shahrvand also published a report on the "commemoration of Second Khordad at Tehran University," and Etemad quoted Saeed Hajjarian referencing the "possibility of another Second Khordad." Etemad also emphasized the failure of a joint list from two factions affiliated with the principlist camp for the elections of the parliamentary board, stating that the competition on Khordad 5 in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the election of the board is the first step towards the "confrontation on Esfand 7" among the principlists in the tenth parliamentary elections. The Law newspaper, in a report titled "The Red Carpet of Street Vendors in the Capital," reviewed the "tragic unemployment situation of millions of youth during Youth Week," stating: "When we have nearly 10 million unemployed youth in the country, while the total youth population is 24 million, the depth of the disaster becomes more evident." The Law newspaper simultaneously reported on the "denial of the arrest of Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam and the son of the mayor of Tehran" on its front page. The newspaper wrote that Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, responded to reporters' questions about the publication of news regarding the misuse of some senior police officials from the NAJA cooperative and the arrest of the former police commander and the mayor's son in this regard, stating: "These claims are completely false" and that there has been no investigation into [Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam], and the reports that have appeared on some websites are strongly denied." The newspaper also referred to the possibility of holding a trial for Jason Rezaian, the detained Washington Post journalist in Tehran, and quoted the judiciary spokesperson as saying: "His court will be held on Khordad 5 with the presence of a lawyer, translator, and defendants in this case, but I am unable to disclose the content of the case." The Shargh newspaper has a front-page report about the history of "interviews between agency representatives and Iranian nuclear scientists" and quoted Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying: "In the previous government, permission was granted for interviews with nuclear scientists, and interviews were conducted with them by agency officials." The Resalat newspaper dedicated its front page photo and headline to the meeting "Religious Honor, Inspection, and Interrogation Forbidden," attended by a number of principlist critics of the nuclear agreement. The newspaper quoted Mohammad Hossein Safar Harandi as saying: "No benefit will come from the nuclear negotiations." The Jahane San'at newspaper, while dedicating its front page photo to Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, reported on the "warning from the Minister of Interior" and quoted him as saying: "We will strike ISIS before they enter the border." The Arman newspaper also reported on its front page, quoting Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of the IRGC, stating: "Confronting ISIS is in the national interest." The Kayhan newspaper reported on its front page about the "beginning of the operation to liberate Ramadi" and assessed it as "the return of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces to the field." This newspaper also quoted some representatives of the ninth parliament as saying: "Access for the agency to military centers is a precursor to espionage." The Iran newspaper reported, quoting the head of the organization of non-governmental schools, on the increase in tuition fees for non-governmental schools being allowed up to 17 percent. "The return of Hajjarian to Tehran University after a decade" The speeches of Saeed Hajjarian, Abbas Abdi, and Hamid Reza Jalaei Pour during the "Commemoration of Second Khordad" ceremony at Tehran University have drawn attention from newspapers such as Arman, Etemad, Shargh, Iran, and Shahrvand, among others. The Shargh newspaper, in a report titled "Return After a Decade," wrote: Saeed Hajjarian, a theorist of the reform movement, after ten years, entered the Faculty of Engineering at Tehran University amidst the clamor of slogans and hands and the loud voice of "You are a living martyr, you are a beating heart" and, in fragmented remarks to the students, stated, "I have a right to this place. They did not let me in here; I do not know from which side the sun has risen." The Etemad newspaper also dedicated its front page to Saeed Hajjarian and reported that he predicted the "possibility of another Second Khordad" during his speech at Tehran University. The newspaper wrote: "The written and living history of the reform era was displayed all together on Tuesday at the Faculty of Engineering at Tehran University, so that students who do not even have clear memories of the epic of Second Khordad can shout the political life of the country’s most political university" and the corridor leading to the Chamran Hall was "full of photographs of Second Khordad newspapers that were shut down overnight. Students were selling books that had to be found from the stalls of street vendors on Enghelab Street. The same books that were published in double digits during the reform era, but this was only part of the written history of the reforms." The Arman newspaper also dedicated its front page to Saeed Hajjarian and reported on the "echo of long live reform" at Tehran University. The newspaper wrote: On Tuesday, "Tehran University was full of excitement and joy; students who are spending their early years at the university had a different smile on their faces because they were waiting to experience the good days that their elders had told them about; days when the shadow of reform was cast over the universities, and now moderation prevails, opening the way for the presence of reformists in the university. Men named Abbas Abdi, Saeed Hajjarian, and Hamid Reza Jalaei Pour went to a podium that had been avoided for years due to the differing tastes of the previous government." The Shahrvand newspaper reported that on Tuesday afternoon, the commemoration of Second Khordad titled "Second Khordad, the Intersection of Constitutionalism and Republic" was held by the Islamic Students Association of the Faculty of Engineering in collaboration with the Islamic Associations of the Medical and Pharmacy faculties at Tehran University. According to this newspaper, Abbas Abdi stated during his speech to the students that "Iranian society has had two revolutions and several social movements in the past century, and although some may consider this a strength and say it is a sign of the dynamism of a society, it must be said that the more accurate meaning of these revolutions and movements is that despite them, Iranian society has not been able to solve its issues." The Shahrvand newspaper also reported that Saeed Hajjarian, during this ceremony, stated that "psychological warfare is an auxiliary tool for propaganda work" and said: "First, there must be something in reality to give wings to. That is, it must be such that it can be made even more so; therefore, during the presidential campaign of 1997, if it was rumored that Natiq wrote and Khatami read, no one would believe it. Just as today, this faction has many media outlets, but no one believes what they say." According to this newspaper, Saeed Hajjarian also, in a note read by one of the members of the Islamic Students Association of Tehran University, discussed the characteristics of Second Khordad and stated that "for the first time in Second Khordad, the issue of competition was raised because before that, we had no serious competition in any period." This newspaper also wrote that Saeed Hajjarian, by asking the question "Was Second Khordad an exception to a rule or not?" said: "In my opinion, Second Khordad was an exception, an exception that may manifest itself in new forms in the future and surprise everyone again." The election of the parliamentary board; the fate of the principlist coalition from Khordad 5 to Esfand 7 The Etemad newspaper emphasized the failure of the joint list from two factions affiliated with the principlists for the election of the parliamentary board, stating that the competition on Khordad 5 in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for the election of the board is the first step towards the "confrontation on Esfand 7" among the principlists in the tenth parliamentary elections. Ehsan Badaghi, in a report for the Etemad newspaper, referring to the failure of the negotiations between Gholamali Haddad Adel and Ali Larijani to present a joint list for the principlist faction and the faction of followers of the velayat for the election of the board, wrote: On Tuesday, "not only was there no joint list, but the competition among the main factions of the parliament became so heated that they postponed the announcement of their candidate lists for the board elections to 6 AM on Wednesday; a tactic to surprise the rival." The Etemad newspaper emphasized that "the electoral game of the principlists again started with a desire for unity and ended in a deep rift; a rift that is supposed to give birth to the fourth board of the ninth parliament." According to this newspaper, "Now it is the last year [of the ninth parliament], and in the political competition market, the value of the board seats has risen sharply; a competition that will publicly begin on Wednesday and end on Esfand 7," as on Tuesday "no specific news came out of the open and hidden sessions of the factions except for the confrontation of the right-hand men of the parliament commanders Kazem Jalali and Alireza Zakani; the former is the spokesperson for Larijani, and the latter speaks for Haddad Adel." Etemad, referring to the fact that "Jalali and Zakani, two days before the board elections, did everything they could to embarrass each other," recalled that previously "there was talk of coordination sessions; joint sessions of Larijani and Haddad Adel. The minority was looking for a coalition, and the majority was not allowing a joint list," and now it appears that "the followers are going into battle against the rival with a fuller hand than last year." This newspaper also wrote that "no one has any discussion about Larijani and Votrabi-Fard's candidacies for the presidency and first vice presidency, not only in the majority faction but among all members of parliament. The reality is that no one is able to compete with these two in the public arena," but "the rift in the minority [principlist faction] has created a desire to take the Bahonar seat," as a year ago, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, who is famous for his lobbying in the parliament, was equal to Gholamreza Tajgardoon in the internal elections of the faction and only thanks to the withdrawal of his reformist rival did he make it to the floor. There, he also only advanced by 10 votes over Elias Naderan." Etemad, however, wrote that the result of the internal elections in the parliament on Khordad 5 will be determined in "a few hours," but the alignments are going to shape the future of the principlists for a more vital election," as "now this internal election of the parliament has turned into the first brick of the principlist coalition wall, which was laid crookedly and is supposed to go crooked until the Thurai that has settled on Esfand 7." The Red Carpet of Street Vendors in the Capital; A Look at the Unemployment Statistics of Millions of Iranian Youth The Law newspaper, in a report titled "The Red Carpet of Street Vendors in the Capital," reviewed the "tragic unemployment situation of millions of youth during Youth Week," stating: "When we have nearly 10 million unemployed youth in the country, while the total youth population is 24 million, the depth of the disaster becomes more evident." Mahbubeh Shoa'i, in a report for the Law newspaper, pointed out that "40 million unemployed in the country is a shocking statistic that you probably have not seen anywhere," stating that with a simple calculation and "browsing through the statistics published by the Statistical Center of Iran about the number of unemployed and employed last year" shows that "of these 40 million people, 12 million are men and 28 million are women." According to this newspaper, "This high unemployment figure, lack of suitable jobs, low wages, inactive industry in Iran, and factors like these have caused most of the unemployed population in the country, who have not even been able to have jobs with minimum wages, to turn to street vending to escape unemployment," and now "it is impossible to walk in the city without encountering a street vendor set up beside the road." The Law newspaper also identified "the lack of appropriate economic policies, international sanctions, and the entry of Chinese goods into Iran" as factors that have led to "such high unemployment that street vending has become a substitute solution for the unemployment of people, especially youth. A solution that perhaps the government is also pleased with its existence." The latest statistics published by the Statistical Center regarding the labor market situation in Iran show that "in the past spring, 63 million 712 thousand and 423 people of the total population of Iran were of working age, and from the total population aged 10 and older in the country, 23 million 637 thousand and 309 people were classified as employed with economic activity, while 40 million 75 thousand and 114 people were inactive." This newspaper emphasized that "among all the unemployed, youth are in a worse situation," stating: "The Statistical Center last year announced the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 in the country as 22.9 percent, and the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 29 was also reported as 20.2 percent," while Mahmoud Golzari, the deputy for youth affairs, announced in May 2014 that "the average unemployment among youth is 15 percent higher than other age groups, and according to the latest research, the average unemployment rate for youth in the country is 26 percent." According to the Law newspaper, "Of the 32 million female population in spring 2014, three million 901 thousand and 266 were employed, and 28 million 141 thousand and 94 were classified as inactive." The Law newspaper pointed out that "according to the Ministry of Labor, in 2012, the unemployment rate for male university graduates was 14.8 percent, and for women, it was about 32 percent," and noted the increase in the number of unemployed graduates: "Every year, nearly one million two hundred thousand graduates enter the job market, and according to statistics, [only] less than a hundred thousand of them can find jobs for themselves." This newspaper referred to "street vending" as a "substitute and forced solution" for unemployment, stating: "When unemployment pressures people, especially youth, to this extent, alternative solutions must be sought.