The Rise of Drug and Alcohol Use Among Teenagers in the Capital

The newspaper Shahrvand has reported on the increasing prevalence of "drug and alcohol consumption" among teenagers in the capital, stating: "Some Tehranian students, those who are heavily involved in wrongdoing, may not know their studies, but they know drugs well. They have their own known suppliers, and if they cannot find them one day, there are suppliers in Tehran's parks who have all kinds of drugs available at any price." The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported on its front page on Saturday about the "fall of oil prices due to OPEC signals," stating: "The $70 barrier for black gold has been broken." Mansour Bi-Taraf, a journalist, wrote in a note in the newspaper Etemad that "the fragile oil price for Iran is around $120, meaning that selling oil below this number is not economically viable for Iran. For Saudi Arabia, this figure is about $90, and for Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar, it is around $70," thus "these countries suffer less damage than Iran, especially since they have sufficient foreign currency reserves, while Iran does not." Narsi Qorban, an energy market expert, also noted in a column in Etemad about the decline in Iran's oil revenues, stating: "What should happen after this event in Iran's oil-dependent economy is to assume the country's oil revenues at $40 billion and base budget planning on this amount." The newspaper Javan reported on the widespread issue of land grabbing, stating that there are "30,000 to 35,000 cases of land grabbing annually" in Iran. The newspaper Resalat, in its front page on Saturday, quoted the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic during a meeting with the "members of the Supreme Council of Basij," stating: "The U.S. government needs an agreement and suffers from a lack of agreement." The newspapers Vatan-e-Emruz and Javan also highlighted another part of Ali Khamenei's remarks in the same speech, quoting him as saying: "Whether an agreement is reached or not, Israel will become less secure." The newspaper Farhikhtegan reported that Taha Hashemi, the deputy of Azad University, stated that Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani, during a meeting with officials about the lack of results in nuclear negotiations, said: "Israel and Saudi Arabia prevented a favorable outcome, and the definitive way is for Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani to visit Saudi Arabia." The newspaper Iran reported on the determination of a minimum "tax exemption for wage earners," stating: "The cabinet decided to exempt them from paying taxes up to 1,150,000 tomans next year." This newspaper reminded that "the tax exemption for wages this year is equivalent to 1,000,000 tomans, which the government plans to increase by 15% to a maximum of 1,150,000 tomans." The newspaper Etemad published an interview with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Islamic Party of Afghanistan, an opponent of the government in that country, quoting him as saying: "I am not a part of the Taliban." This newspaper also referred to the remarks of Shahindokht Molaverdi, the Deputy for Women and Family Affairs of the Islamic Republic, regarding the disappearance of volumes of the "National Project for Examining Forms of Domestic Violence" during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, quoting Ashraf Boroujerdi, the Deputy Minister of Interior for Social Affairs and Councils during Mohammad Khatami's government, who was among those who advanced the project "Examining Forms of Domestic Violence" with the Women's Participation Center in the eighth government, stating: "After the ninth government came to power, the Ministry of Interior destroyed all these books." Ashraf Boroujerdi also mentioned that "he has one copy of these 32 books, but there is no news of any of these volumes in the Ministry of Interior." The newspaper Shahrvand quoted Ahmadreza Lahijanizadeh, the director general of the environment in Khuzestan province, stating: "The Shadgan wetland, which was a military zone during the eight-year war, is now contaminated with munitions, trenches, and equipment," and currently, "the Hoor al-Azim wetland is also set to be dried up by the Iranian Oil Engineering and Development Company for oil extraction." The fall of oil prices below $70 due to OPEC signals was reported by the newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad on its front page, stating: "The $70 barrier for black gold has been broken." According to this newspaper, on Friday, the price of oil broke its most important price floor in recent weeks, reaching $68 per barrel, while the 166th OPEC meeting revolved around the decisions of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE, and the OPEC production ceiling remained unchanged. Donya-e-Eqtesad noted that with the fall in oil prices, "the price of American oil dropped by $5 after the recent meeting to $68, and Brent oil stabilized at $72," while the OPEC oil basket also dropped by $3 compared to the previous day to near $70. Nasim Alayi, in a report for Donya-e-Eqtesad, quoted experts as saying: "Saudi Arabia and its allied countries face two concerns regarding the reduction of the oil production ceiling; first, the decisions of non-OPEC countries regarding production cuts are unclear, as officials from these countries have expressed doubts about the next actions of non-OPEC countries, especially Russia, and consider the reduction of the OPEC production ceiling as handing over the market to these countries." According to this newspaper, the second concern of Saudi Arabia and its allied countries is "the necessity of a retreat in shale oil production from countries like the U.S. with falling prices, which some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, believe that the short-term losses of OPEC member countries are better than the long-term shift of markets towards shale oil." Donya-e-Eqtesad stated that these two concerns led Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, to announce before the start of the 66th OPEC meeting that "the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) decided to stabilize the OPEC production level," and this meeting ultimately concluded with "the stabilization of the 30 million barrels OPEC ceiling for the sixth consecutive year." The newspaper reminded that "the price of Brent oil," which is one of the main benchmarks for oil pricing, "has lost nearly $45 in value since it peaked at $115 on June 19 of this year." Donya-e-Eqtesad also referred to the statements of Iran's oil minister during the OPEC meeting, quoting Bijan Namdar Zangeneh as saying: "What we wanted was not achieved, but we are not unhappy with OPEC's decision." The golden era of OPEC has passed; Iran's oil revenues have decreased to $40 billion. Mansour Bi-Taraf, a journalist, wrote in a note in the newspaper Etemad that "the fragile oil price and the foreign currency revenues from oil exports are crucial. The fragile oil price for Iran is around $120, meaning that selling oil below this number is not economically viable for Iran. For Saudi Arabia, this figure is about $90, and for Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar, it is around $70," thus "these countries suffer less damage than Iran, especially since they have sufficient foreign currency reserves, while Iran does not." The writer of Etemad noted that "the distrust among OPEC members" has persisted, reminding that "for a long time, OPEC has not punished a violating member. There are no tools for punishment, and there is no expectation that a violating country will be penalized, which is why we see that the major leader of OPEC, Saudi Arabia, commits the most violations, and smaller countries follow suit." The writer of Etemad identified "the role of competitors" as another effective factor in the decisions of OPEC member countries, stating: "Currently, non-OPEC oil-producing competitors are not weak. Russia alone holds 14% of global oil production. The United States also holds around 14%. If we add Mexico to these countries, nearly 40% of the world's oil production is held by these three countries, which claim that even if oil prices drop to $60 per barrel, they will not suffer losses." According to the newspaper Etemad, all these factors indicate that "the OPEC structure is no longer like a cartel that can influence the market, and the only thing it can do is to maintain its market share," as "the golden era of OPEC, which used to dominate the global oil market, has passed." The writer of Etemad posed the question, "Could OPEC have reduced the production ceiling?" emphasizing that in this case, "first, Iran would not agree. Currently, Iran's oil production is about 2.8 million barrels per day, of which about one million barrels are exported; reducing the production ceiling means that Iran would have to cut its exports, which is not feasible. Second, Saudi Arabia would not agree because it would mean losing market share. Third, reducing the production ceiling requires coordination among non-OPEC oil-producing countries like Russia, Norway, and Mexico, which had already announced that they would not reduce their oil production; therefore, if OPEC alone reduced production, the only loser in the market would be this disintegrating cartel." Narsi Qorban, an energy market expert, also pointed out in a note in Etemad about the decline in Iran's oil revenues, stating: "What should happen after this event in Iran's oil-dependent economy is to assume the country's oil revenues at $40 billion and base budget planning on this amount." The writer of Etemad also mentioned that "what can open new doors for the country's economy during times of falling oil prices and mitigate the effects of such OPEC decisions depends on the country's diplomacy and the nuclear negotiation team; decision-makers who, if they try to successfully conclude negotiations between Iran and the P5+1, will be able to provide a suitable alternative for the decline in oil prices by releasing and accessing the $100 billion of Iran's frozen assets by Western countries." The occurrence of "30,000 to 35,000 cases of land grabbing annually" was reported by the newspaper Javan, which published a report on the extent of land grabbing, stating that "30,000 to 35,000 cases of land grabbing occur annually in Iran." This newspaper pointed out that the Deputy for Land Protection of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization "reports that 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of national lands are seized by thieves under various names and titles," stating that with such dimensions of land grabbing, "one must realize the ineffectiveness of laws in deterring them and that all actions are merely verbal." According to this newspaper, Mohammad Taghi Amouzadeh, the Deputy for Land Protection of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization, had previously emphasized that "most of these illegal seizures occur in metropolises and urban fringes and are exploited due to the lack of ownership." Mohammad Reza Hadilu, in a report for the newspaper Javan, noted that this official did not mention "why, despite the formation of various cases in all provinces and their examination and monitoring, the statistics of a 10% increase in land grabbing are still published by various organizations and institutions, including their own." This newspaper cited "the lengthy judicial process, along with the use of special tactics by the occupiers and hiring lawyers to pursue cases for the annulment or questioning of rulings issued by judicial authorities" as some of the ways land grabbers circumvent the law, stating: "It is regrettable that the Deputy for Land Protection of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization says: both executive agencies and the judiciary are well aware of these individuals and must confront their greed." The newspaper Javan also referred to the report of the 90th Principle Commission in this regard, stating that this commission announced in its report: "Land grabbing is a complex crime with many hands behind it, and decisive judicial action can cut these hands off. Although it seems that government organizations must be careful in their allocations so that lands and properties are left in the name of the people and not in the pockets of land grabbers." This newspaper cited "reports published by the Deputy for Land Protection of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization," stating: "Tehran ranks first in land grabbing statistics, followed by metropolises like Shiraz, Mashhad, and Tabriz. However, the fire that has engulfed the lands of the northern provinces of the country should not be overlooked. Lands that are now up for sale, and given the tourist nature of these areas, thousands of meters of forests, rangelands, and beaches in every city are waiting to be turned into villas and commercial complexes." According to the newspaper Javan, despite the widespread land grabbing in Iran, "there is no specific title in the laws under the name of land grabbing, and if the illegal occupation of lands is considered a form of fraud, the offender is punished according to the law for fraud, and of course, some also consider land grabbing to fall under Article 690 of the Islamic Penal Code, which also does not have enough deterrent power, and the benefits of seizing land outweigh its penalties." This newspaper noted that some of the lands seized during land grabbing "are part of natural and national resources," stating: "Although the stabilization of government ownership in 132 million hectares of the country's natural resource lands has been confirmed, and according to officials, the map of these lands has been prepared, and the work of matching with nature and issuing their deeds has also been done, nearly 8 million hectares of lands are still not registered in the name of the government and remain unresolved.