The Story of the Withdrawal of 28 Billion Tomans from the Retirement Organization's Accounts

The newspaper Shahrvand reported on a new revelation by a member of the City Council regarding the "withdrawal of 28 billion tomans from the accounts of the Retirement Organization." It wrote: "In the three hundred and sixty-ninth session of the Islamic City Council of Tehran, two sessions before the end of the fourth council's term, Rahmatollah Hafezi once again spoke about the necessity of transparency in Tehran Municipality and addressed the issue of withdrawals from the accounts of the municipality's retirement organization." According to Shahrvand, Hafezi stated: "A few days ago, about 28 billion tomans were withdrawn from these accounts, but it has not been deposited into the treasury of the organization and the municipality, and the entry and exit printouts of the accounts should be presented to the members of the Tehran City Council," demanding that municipal officials explain "under what authorization such accounts were opened" and withdrawals made. Nasser Amani, the deputy for planning and council affairs of Tehran Municipality, also commented on the account numbers mentioned by Hafezi, saying: "The accounts were opened several years ago because this organization has a separate financial regulation, but I asked the gentlemen why they emptied the accounts, and they said that withdrawals were being made from these accounts, which is why they were emptied." However, "these explanations from the deputy mayor of Tehran, along with a letter from the deputy financial officer of the municipality's retirement organization, did not convince Hafezi, and it was decided that explanations regarding the fate of the withdrawn funds would be provided by the retirement organization." The newspaper Sharq dedicated the half-page photo on its front page to the presence of Hassan Rouhani in the Islamic Consultative Assembly to defend the proposed ministers of the twelfth government, with the headline "The Test of Gaining Trust," stating that in the public session of the Assembly on Tuesday, "the President and the Speaker of the Assembly were coordinated; the color of Rouhani's cloak was close to the color of Larijani's suit; or perhaps the opposite." Moreover, "this closeness, before becoming apparent in the color of clothing, was more visible in the introduction of some ministers and the signals from Larijani's allies." Kambez Nourouzi, a legal scholar, in a note in this newspaper evaluating Rouhani's statements on Tuesday, wrote: "The part of the President's programs that was read on Tuesday as the programs of the twelfth government, for example in the fields of economy or foreign relations, was hopeful. However, other parts remained ambiguous and in suspension. In these statements, the sections that pertain more to the field of culture and the fundamental rights of the Iranian people and various professions were not given much attention." Mohammad Hossein Najmi, a reporter for the newspaper Sharq, in addition to emphasizing the "closeness of the heads of the government and the Assembly, wrote: "In all morning and afternoon sessions of the Assembly on Tuesday, perhaps the most prominent sign of the coordination between Larijani and Rouhani in introducing ministers was the three-person gathering of Mahmoud Vaezi, Kazem Jalali, and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi; even more coordinated than the introduction of Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli (a close associate of Ali Larijani) for the Ministry of Interior and more set than the colors of Larijani and Rouhani's clothing." The reporter also noted that "perhaps this is why Behrouz Namati, a representative close to the Speaker of the Assembly, confidently stated about one of the controversial ministers for the reformists in the Assembly, namely Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, that he will definitely receive votes." Sharq, while publishing a summary of the speeches of representatives in favor and against, wrote that the final sentence of the speech by Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, a representative from Kaboodar Ahang opposing Azari Jahromi, was "shocking for many," as this representative stated: "Do not let the Ministry of Communications become the Ministry of Intelligence 2," which "was a reference to Jahromi's previous work in the Ministry of Intelligence." Etemad, with the headline "Allusions, Demands, Promises," wrote that Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday in the Assembly "defended the cabinet, listed the expectations from the ministers, and responded to critics." Abbas Abdi, in a note in this newspaper, referring to Rouhani's statement that "we are trying to improve the living conditions of about 10 million people fivefold by 2020 and eradicate absolute poverty," wrote: "This is a very important and heavy claim" and "since this work must be done through increasing production and investment, we must witness growth in investment as well, and since government expenditures usually do not decrease, without a doubt, GDP must increase by at least 100% over four years, which requires an economic growth of 20% per year, which is impossible." Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a representative from the Hope faction, also wrote in a note titled "The Reason for the Contradiction Between Representatives' Votes and People's Demands" in Etemad: "The Hope faction is aware of the limitations of the President, the power structure, and other considerations that Hassan Rouhani had in forming the twelfth cabinet, although this may contradict the views of the people who expressed their demands during the political atmosphere of the elections, but they should know that at that time, they did not consider a series of considerations." This reformist representative wrote: "I want to tell the people that if their expectations in the cabinet formation were not met or if their representatives' votes of confidence were given to individuals whom they rated poorly, we had such considerations. We support Mr. President and must fully support him. However, support does not mean that we must give votes of confidence to all his proposed options; just as he himself emphasized this matter. After all, he has been a representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for several terms and is familiar with the work of representation. Sometimes our support is that we do not vote for some options, and in that case, we also have considerations in mind." Mohammad Reza Tabesh emphasized that "the people are unaware of the behind-the-scenes politics," writing: "If we do not vote for someone, can we be sure that the next option will be better? Stronger? These issues exist," but "I want to apologize to the people. They should not think that their representatives in the Assembly have forgotten their slogans and demands. My apology is for the fact that there may be considerations taken into account in the process of selecting ministers by the President and the Assembly that the people do not consider credible." The newspaper Jomhouri Eslami, however, emphasized that "among the proposed individuals for ministerial positions, there are those who do not have the qualifications to hold the proposed ministries," writing: "Just as the Constitution of the Islamic Republic gives the President the right to propose individuals for ministerial positions based on his opinion and what he deems beneficial for the country, this same Constitution has also granted the representatives of the Assembly the right to freely and without being under pressure from any person or group from outside or inside the Assembly to express their opinions and vote on the proposed individuals and determine the fate of ministerial seats with their votes." The editorial writer of the Jomhouri Eslami newspaper, quoting part of Rouhani's remarks that "the list of ministers has been shared with the Supreme Leader is incorrect," wrote: "Even if President Rouhani did not say this, according to the right granted to the representatives of the Assembly by the Constitution, they have the right to freely vote for anyone they deem appropriate or not." This newspaper also wrote: "The representatives of the Assembly should look at the existing weaknesses in some governorships and local administrations and the numerous problems in social, employment, livelihood, higher education, and culture sectors of the country and consider that they should not allow this situation to continue with complacency and negligence. Is there a shortage of qualified individuals that we should only seek those who have proven their qualifications to manage some ministries?" The newspaper Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in its front-page headline "We have problems, we have no budget, lower your expectations," wrote that Hassan Rouhani in the summary of his economic remarks on Tuesday in the Assembly "listed the crisis-inducing problems of the country, most of which he attributed to the past, alongside what he called lower income compared to the past, to conclude that community expectations must be readjusted in line with revenues of less than 50 billion dollars from oil, as there is no longer news of 100 billion dollar revenues, and fundamental changes must be made in the management of the country's resources." This newspaper wrote: "Thus, the President transitioned from the enchanting idealism of the election campaign days to the magical realism of the days of work and accountability to tell the whole world that he faces a difficult task in managing the twelfth government." The newspaper Ghanoon described the content of Hassan Rouhani's remarks as "defending the cabinet, defending the rival's cabinet," writing: "A cabinet that faced numerous oppositions from Hassan Rouhani's supporters is now subject to the representatives' votes." The newspaper Jahan San'at criticized the discriminatory programs of the Drug Control Headquarters regarding addiction treatment camps, stating: "In recent months, the discussion of increasing the construction of addiction treatment camps has been repeatedly raised, and the main focus of these remarks has been that more addiction treatment camps should be created for women, while just a few months ago, several addiction treatment camps for women were closed, and for vulnerable women, apart from one or two centers with DCI and addiction treatment facilities where they can have temporary presence, no special organization or assistance has been provided." According to this newspaper, Parviz Afshar, the spokesman for the Drug Control Headquarters, stated that "Shafaq camp is completely male and was temporarily converted into a center for holding addicted women based on necessity, and after that, it is no longer possible to accept addicted women there, and it is currently completely male." He added that "to assist in the treatment and rehabilitation of women, two centers with a capacity of 60 have been established, which only accept addicted women with a legal order, and providing treatment services to addicted women without an order is against the law." The newspaper Jahan San'at wrote: "In fact, the addiction of women, which officials say is increasing day by day, has received the least attention for control and assistance," and "men are still given more attention due to the high number of addicts." The newspaper Bahar has a report titled "Thirst in the Land of Thousands of Springs," stating: "North Khorasan, which has been known as the land of thousands of springs due to its rivers, springs, and flowing streams, has faced a water crisis in recent years due to decreased rainfall, repeated droughts, declining groundwater levels, and excessive extraction from water resources, and now instead of the melody of water music, the sound of water tanker horns echoes in the ears of the people." According to this newspaper, "In the first four months of this year, compared to the same period last year, the temperature in North Khorasan has been half a degree warmer," and during this period, "there has been a 68% decrease in rainfall compared to 1995 and a 57% decrease in precipitation compared to the long-term period." The newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh has a report titled "The Bitterness of Sugarcane Under the Teeth of Haft Tappeh Workers," stating that the result of the protests of Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers over wage arrears has led to "the summoning of a large number of workers to court," which "indicates the increasing pressures on labor activists and the continuation of a restrictive outlook on labor protests." This newspaper wrote: On the third of Mordad, "the workers of Haft Tappeh sugarcane company, along with their families, turned the Imam Port to Andimeshk road into a place for their protest gathering for hours," but "the strategic position of this area caused the workers' labor protest to be interpreted as security by some institutions and dealt with, and on the fourth of Mordad 1396, 15 workers of Haft Tappeh sugarcane company were arrested at their homes," but "now it is reported that at least 53 people have been summoned to court in connection with the labor protests of the past few months at this company." Vaghaye Ettefaghieh reminded that "holding four protest gatherings in the five months of the past year and multiple gatherings since 1994 has occurred because the company officials have failed to fulfill their commitments to the workers."