Unprecedented Wave of Closure of Famous Cafés in Tehran

The newspaper Etemad dedicated a photo in its Saturday issue to "John Kerry, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Catherine Ashton" and reported under the headline "Waiting Until the Last Moment": In Vienna, "where dozens of television cameras and journalists from hundreds of international media are waiting to broadcast a major news story for the entire world, there is still no definitive news and no certain event. A tunnel of intensive discussions is underway behind closed doors, and these three individuals you see in the picture, along with their teams, have shown the utmost commitment to keeping the discussions out of the media." The newspaper Javan also reported in its Saturday issue that "an alternative path is on the table in Vienna" and wrote: "It may be possible to agree on the main headlines, rather than a comprehensive agreement." The newspaper Kayhan, in its editorial, criticized the diplomacy of Hassan Rouhani's government, stating that "the complete lifting of all sanctions" is the only acceptable outcome from the nuclear negotiations. Meanwhile, the newspaper Jomhouri Eslami praised the "brilliant record" of the Iranian negotiating team in its editorial, stating: "The Iranian negotiating team has positive achievements such as the release of part of Iran's assets, preventing a new resolution, and the removal of many obstacles." The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported on the "unprecedented wave of closures of famous cafés in Tehran," stating: "In the past week, 25 cafés in Tehran have been closed." The newspaper Iran quoted the Minister of Interior reporting on "the 10 trillion tomans turnover of drug trafficking in Iran," stating: "The financial turnover of drug traffickers has shaken the foundations of Iran's economy." The newspaper Ebtekar also reported on the beginning of a "destructive game" against Mohammad Farhadi, the fifth proposed Minister of Science, stating: "A political current critical of the government sees the best way to pressure Rouhani's government as a dirty game of text messaging and fabricating reality based on a specific theme against the President's proposed candidates for the Ministry of Science." Continuing nuclear negotiations in Vienna; "Waiting Until the Last Moment" The newspaper Etemad dedicated a photo in its Saturday issue to "John Kerry, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Catherine Ashton" and reported under the headline "Waiting Until the Last Moment": In Vienna, "where dozens of television cameras and journalists from hundreds of international media are waiting to broadcast a major news story for the entire world, there is still no definitive news and no certain event. A tunnel of intensive discussions is underway behind closed doors, and these three individuals you see in the picture, along with their teams, have shown the utmost commitment to keeping the discussions out of the media." This newspaper emphasized that "neither the Iranian negotiating team nor the European and American diplomatic teams are willing to leak the content of the negotiations to the journalists waiting in the erected tents of Coburg," and "any news, such as John Kerry's departure from Vienna or Mohammad Javad Zarif's return to Tehran, remains unconfirmed and suspended, and now there is no longer any news from those always 'informed' sources that used to report details of the negotiations accurately to international news agencies." Etemad wrote: "All of this tells us and others who are watching the negotiations around the globe that we must still wait; with 72 hours left until the deadline, it will not be predictable what news will be broadcast from Vienna until the clock strikes in these last few rounds." This newspaper also reported, quoting Sara Masoumi, Etemad's correspondent in Vienna, about the "efforts and struggles of the six countries for an agreement," stating: "On Thursday and Friday, the foreign ministers of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom arrived in the Austrian capital. Signs of optimism and pessimism are clashing with each other." According to Etemad, "John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, hours after arriving in Vienna and after a brief consultation with his negotiating team, came to Coburg and met with Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, and Catherine Ashton, the coordinator of the 1+5 group; a meeting that lasted more than two hours, but journalists heard no news about what transpired behind closed doors either before or after it." The Etemad reporter noted that "Kerry's presence in Vienna, just 48 hours after the Iranian negotiating team's arrival, became an excuse for media inquiries," writing: "Some media sources justify this trip by claiming that he has come to Vienna with a package that is essentially the main substance of a proposed agreement that could end sanctions on Iran on one side and Western concerns about Iran's nuclear program on the other." A member close to the Iranian negotiating team told Etemad: "In a situation where one party wants to present a completely new proposal in this short time, they should practically think about the end of the negotiations. What is currently underway in these negotiations is essentially technical bargaining and examining the details that can reduce the level of disagreements and bring the two sides closer together." This unnamed member of the Iranian negotiating team also stated: "The grounds for disagreement are not so significant that the world faces a lack of understanding. Currently, all parties are seriously continuing negotiations, and none have spoken of an extension. As long as this seriousness exists among all parties, we should expect to reach an agreement. The issue is that understanding emerges from the negotiations." Etemad simultaneously quoted Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying: "Important discussions have taken place, but there was no significant proposal to take back to Tehran." The newspaper Javan also reported in its Saturday issue that "an alternative path is on the table in Vienna," stating: "It may be possible to agree on the main headlines, rather than a comprehensive agreement." This newspaper emphasized that "the likelihood of an extension is greater," writing: "Despite the ongoing negotiations in Vienna, it is still unclear whether the discussions have taken a positive turn or not. From around Friday evening, shortly after the announcement of Zarif's return to Tehran and then the news of his decision being canceled, some sources reported a more positive atmosphere in the negotiations, but given the return of Zarif's British and French counterparts, it is still not possible to make a specific judgment about the current process." The newspaper Javan emphasized that "the issue of how and when to lift Iran's sanctions and the U.S. position on this matter remains the key issue weighing heavily on the negotiations, and secondly, the issue of Iran's centrifuge capacity is also a key position on which no news has been published regarding the resolution of disagreements." This newspaper, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also wrote: "Based on an unofficial survey of observers and some nuclear experts conducted in Tehran and obtained by Javan, most observers and experts consider the scenario of extending negotiations more likely than other scenarios. However, there is also a possibility of announcing some kind of general understanding." Kayhan: We Have Achieved Nothing Without Complete Lifting of Sanctions The newspaper Kayhan, in an editorial titled "Expectations from the Children of the Revolution," wrote: "The day after tomorrow, i.e., December 3, the six-month extension deadline of the Geneva agreement will end, and naturally, the people's expectation from about a year and a half of intensive and detailed negotiations is to achieve a tangible and concrete result. They rightfully expect to see the outcome of these repeated visits and feel its impact as promised by government officials in their lives." This newspaper, reviewing Hassan Rouhani's statements during the presidential election and the resumption of negotiations with the 1+5 countries, noted that Hassan Rouhani had said during the election that the goal of the negotiations is that "both the wheel of people's lives must turn and the wheel of centrifuges must turn" and that after winning the election, he began "serious negotiations with the 1+5 and in some cases directly with the U.S. with the aim of lifting sanctions" and "in the first months, promises were made regarding efforts to remove sanctions, creating hopes in society." The newspaper Kayhan then referred to the "Geneva agreement" as an agreement that "in exchange for several important, vital, and binding commitments from Iran, the West made several minor, impractical commitments of minimal value," writing: "In those days, criticism of this agreement was met with the label of 'sanction profiteering,' but now, after a year and several months, people can easily see that their lies were not true." Hussein Shamsian, the editorial writer of Kayhan, also wrote about the ongoing negotiations: "So far, we have witnessed that both the agenda of the negotiations has changed to our detriment and that there has been an inappropriate haste and urgency in drafting the agreement, resulting in nothing but a severe limitation on Iran's nuclear activities and the loss of a large portion of our nuclear treasure in exchange for gaining a few words and, of course, a few billion of our own money in long-term installments." The newspaper Kayhan wrote: "The people, after all this back and forth and several rounds of negotiations and breaking the taboo of negotiation, were neither hopeful for souvenir photos with the U.S. Secretary of State nor in need of several billion dollars of our own money, and now 'the most important axis that, based on the electoral promises of the esteemed President and reiterated by him and other responsible officials, should be addressed is the complete lifting of all oppressive sanctions against Iran, and without achieving this result, it must be said frankly that we have achieved nothing.'" The newspaper Jomhouri Eslami praised the "brilliant record" of the negotiating team in its editorial titled "Brilliant Record," writing: "Whether the file of Iran's nuclear negotiations with the 1+5 is closed this Tuesday, December 3, or remains open for a while longer, no one can deny that the members of the Iranian negotiating team are returning to the country with a brilliant record." According to this newspaper, "the closure of the negotiations file means either a comprehensive and final agreement or the failure of the negotiations. In either case, the record of the Iranian negotiating team members is brilliant because, in the case of an agreement, what Iran gains is the legal rights of the nation specified in the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which have been disputed due to the politicization and actions of the West, especially the U.S., and as a result of the powerful presence of the Iranian side in the negotiations, these rights are recognized by the major powers of the world." The Jomhouri Eslami newspaper emphasized that "in the record of the Iranian negotiating team, although there are positive achievements such as the release of part of Iran's assets, preventing a new resolution, and the removal of many obstacles, more importantly, Western powers, especially the U.S., have been disarmed against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and now they have no excuse to accuse our country of inflexibility or deviation from the peaceful path of nuclear activities." This newspaper praised the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, stating: "The Iranian negotiators do not intend to back down from the red lines drawn by the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, as they have adhered to all red lines to date and have firmly defended the legal rights of the nation; however, if no agreement is reached and the negotiations end without results, the Iranian negotiators will still be proud because they participated in the negotiations with authority and did not succumb to excessive demands." The Jomhouri Eslami newspaper also wrote: "The extension of the negotiations deadline will also mean that the Iranian negotiators have refused to submit to excessive demands, and for this reason, the negotiations did not reach a conclusion within the one-year deadline, and the negotiating parties need more time for discussion and efforts to reach an agreement. Therefore, in this case, the record of the Iranian negotiating team members will also be brilliant." The editorial writer of the Jomhouri Eslami newspaper emphasized that "if the negotiations do not lead to an agreement, global public opinion will only see the U.S. and other Western powers as the obstacles to the success of these negotiations," writing: "The Islamic Republic of Iran, through its transparent and powerful presence in the negotiations, has proven to the world that, firstly, it is open to dialogue, secondly, it relies on consistency in dialogue, and thirdly, it does not succumb to unreasonable demands." This newspaper also referred to the internal pressures on the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, writing: "An important point in the story of Iran's nuclear negotiations with the 1+5 is that the Iranian negotiators have continued their work for the entire past year under bombardment from toxic propaganda and false accusations and claims from domestic opponents and external enemies. They had to justify themselves to domestic opponents and rivals of the government while also fighting against the enemies of the Iranian nation who were working to sabotage the negotiations from abroad. The significant achievement of the Iranian negotiating team was that, in addition to facing internal and external pressures, they were able to stand powerfully against the excessive demands of Western powers and defend the legal rights of the nation." The unprecedented wave of closures of famous cafés in Tehran; 26 cafés were closed by the police The newspaper Shahre Vahdat reported on the "unprecedented wave of café closures in Tehran," stating: "In the past week, 26 cafés in Tehran have been closed." This newspaper noted that "the past week was not a good week for café-goers in Tehran; many of them went to their usual café but found it closed and sealed." Quoting the owner of a café on Karim Khan Street, it stated: "Last Saturday, police officers visited the café and said that due to 'not adhering to certain decorum,' the café would be closed, while 'our café has been operating for a year and two months.'