Use of Chains to Restrain Disabled Individuals Instead of Caregivers

The newspaper Etemad has published a report about the quietly held exam for potential candidates for the Assembly of Experts in mid-September, stating that "180 people participated in the scientific exam for the Assembly of Leadership elections," but "no results have yet been announced" from this exam. Shargh newspaper reported on the existence of "500 cases of land grabbing in Gorgan Heights" and also land grabbing of several thousand hectares in Shiraz under the guise of "waqf" (endowment). Aftab Yazd newspaper, while publishing contradictory statements from three officials regarding the "abuse of disabled individuals" at a care center for the disabled in Karaj, wrote: "Contradictory statements regarding the validity of the abuse of disabled individuals continue." Faizollah Arabshahi, a reformist figure, told Etemad newspaper: "Opponents of the government want Hassan Rouhani not to win votes in 2016." Qanoon newspaper, in its front page headline titled "Bribes and Flattery Surrounding the Judiciary," quoted Ali Sadeghi, the cultural deputy of the judiciary, stating that currently, bribery and flattery surrounding the judiciary have increased, and one of the main approaches of the cultural deputy of the judiciary is the judicial integrity of its employees. Etemad, in its front page on Thursday titled "The End of American Games," wrote: "September 17 is a historic date for Barack Obama. The 60-day period for the U.S. Congress to announce its final opinion regarding the overall Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ends today," and "on the morning of September 18, the Democratic President of the United States can comfortably speak about entering a new phase of the nuclear agreement with Iran." Arman newspaper quoted Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications, about the "possibility of lifting the ban on Facebook." Kayhan newspaper published statements from the Leader of the Islamic Republic regarding the "enemy's efforts to infiltrate decision-making and policy-making centers." Iran newspaper emphasized that "Soheila defeated acid," writing: "At noon on September 24, Soheila Jorkesh, a victim of acid attacks in Isfahan, underwent surgery for the second time at Baraker Hospital in Spain." Arman newspaper again quoted Mahmoud Vaezi about the "possibility of lifting the ban on Facebook." According to this newspaper, Soheila Jorkesh's mother reported the return of her daughter's eyesight and stated: "Soheila's eyesight is such that she can currently see objects, but after 24 hours, her eyesight percentage will be determined." Iran newspaper reminded that "besides Soheila, three other women were also attacked by an unknown motorcyclist who targeted women and girls in Isfahan for acid attacks," but "no clues have been found regarding the arrest of the perpetrators of this incident." The quiet holding of the exam for candidates for the Assembly of Experts was reported by Etemad, stating that "the Guardian Council, as the overseer of the elections, is the only authority responsible for the exam that has been determined for one of the four common elections in the country; a method that should be considered a result of the silence of the Constitution." Five hundred cases of land grabbing in Gorgan Heights, land grabbing under the guise of waqf in Shiraz. Shargh newspaper reported on the existence of "500 cases of land grabbing in Gorgan Heights" and also land grabbing of several thousand hectares in Shiraz under the guise of "waqf." Kazem Palizdar, an advisor to Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of the Islamic Republic, in an interview with Zahra Mahdour, a reporter for Shargh newspaper, emphasized that "we are not seeking to expose anyone," stating: "The cases of violations in land grabbing in Gorgan Heights are around 500 cases, but in a limited number of cases, officials from the previous government were involved." Shargh newspaper reported on the existence of "500 cases of land grabbing in Gorgan Heights" and also land grabbing of several thousand hectares in Shiraz under the guise of "waqf." The advisor to Eshaq Jahangiri stated: "The officials mentioned in the land grabbing cases are fewer than 10 people," and "by raising the names of officials and politicizing the issues, matters are pushed to the sidelines, and not only are the cases of officials' violations not addressed, but the remaining cases are also covered up." According to this official, Hassan Rouhani "the entire Gorgan Heights area is 2,400 hectares, of which 1,200 hectares are considered national lands and the other 1,200 hectares are exceptions; however, these exceptions were not even 10 hectares 30 years ago, but over the years, some individuals have enlarged those exceptions with their claims from judicial authorities," and even "right now, some individuals in the judicial authority have claimed and are trying to separate 95 hectares of the 1,200 hectares of national and natural resources of Gorgan Heights and make them part of their exceptions, of which 20 hectares are currently in the process of issuing a verdict." Kazem Palizdar told Shargh newspaper: "Those who have good intentions in combating economic corruption should not politicize these issues. The fight against corruption should not be used as a tool for political disputes and ethnic and regional differences. We do not allow anyone to use the lever of fighting corruption for their political purposes." He emphasized that "the country’s divisions have specified where Gorgan Heights belongs, and there is no intention or purpose to relocate this area, and this government will not interfere in the country’s divisions." He stated: "The issue of Gorgan Heights has occurred in a situation where there has been no oversight, and it has only been based on an unwritten agreement among local officials regarding excessive construction and multiple changes of land use." Kazem Palizdar referred to the widespread land grabbing in Fars province, stating: "When we went to Shiraz, we did not expect to encounter such land grabbing cases. The land grabbing case in Shiraz dates back 70 years. In this way, an individual, based on documents and records, had about 300 to 400 hectares of land, and the income from this waqf should have gone to the heirs. At various times, this individual and their heirs made claims and opened multiple cases in judicial authorities, which ultimately led to this 300 to 400 hectares becoming 1,700 hectares, but today what they possess is 11,000 hectares; that is, the entire new city of Sadra in Shiraz is part of that individual's waqf, and now the income from this waqf also goes to the heirs." The advisor to Eshaq Jahangiri told Shargh newspaper: "We have land grabbing in Shiraz where 200 hectares of farmers' lands have been purchased, but alongside this 200 hectares, about 1,000 hectares of national lands have also been seized. While it is correct that local officials have neglected and violated in this regard, as the Leader has stated; no corruption occurs unless certain individuals within organizations and structures cooperate in that corruption. Therefore, corrupt individuals move along the path of corruption using legal tools." Kazem Palizdar referred to the occurrence of land grabbing and desert grabbing, stating: "Forest grabbing has also recently become a trend, which is considered part of the land grabbing. In Kelardasht, we occasionally encountered examples of this kind that were architectural masterpieces in their own right. In difficult-to-access places, construction has been undertaken that sometimes seems impossible." Changes in diesel fuel rationing from October 1; "Mileage" will be the criterion for receiving fuel. The newspaper Jahan Sanat reported on the "changes in diesel fuel rationing" and wrote that from October 1, "mileage" will be the criterion for receiving fuel. According to Shahram Adamnejad, while "under the previous rationing, all vehicles received the same quota," the new diesel rationing will be implemented "based on criteria such as harvest time, regional level, and harvest restrictions." Ziba Varmaziari, in a report for Jahan Sanat, wrote: "The plan to allocate fuel quotas based on the mileage of the public transport fleet" is a plan that "was initiated simultaneously with the implementation of the subsidy targeting law in 2010 and now, after about four years, is set to be implemented in the country from October 1." According to this newspaper, "Although the title of this plan is such that everyone thinks it will prevent diesel fuel smuggling and non-transport uses, responsible officials in the government emphasize that this plan "focuses more on organizing this part of transportation because selling diesel fuel for drivers, even in the best-case scenario, does not yield much profit and does not amount to a significant figure, so this issue has not led to the implementation of the plan and the expenditure of significant time and cost, and the matter is beyond these words." Shahram Adamnejad, the deputy planning officer of Iran's Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, told Jahan Sanat newspaper: "The mission of this project is not just about fuel; it is a monitoring and oversight system for transportation because this action helps improve travel safety through speed and travel time, and in other words, this plan acts as a control and oversight package." This government official also pointed out that with "the increase in traffic volume on Iran's roads, controlling and monitoring by manual methods is no longer feasible," saying: "How long can we control trips with the establishment of road police? Therefore, it was necessary to design and implement such a system to be informed about travel time, load status, and driver conditions." According to Shahram Adamnejad, "Currently, there are 806,000 diesel vehicles in the country, of which 289,604 are related to the intercity fleet," emphasizing that "50% of diesel fuel consumption in Iran is related to the transportation sector," and the implementation of "the plan to allocate fuel quotas based on the mileage of the public transportation fleet has a supervisory nature." Conflicting statements regarding the validity of the abuse and mistreatment of disabled individuals. Aftab Yazd newspaper, while publishing contradictory statements from three officials regarding the "abuse and mistreatment of disabled individuals" at a care center for the disabled in Karaj, wrote: "Conflicting statements regarding the validity of the abuse of disabled individuals continue." According to this newspaper, after a number of parents of disabled individuals noticed wounds or bruises on their children’s bodies due to chains and shackles by a private care institution for the disabled, they filed a complaint against that institution, after which Afrooz Bahrami, the director general of the Welfare Organization of Alborz province, stated that "a report regarding the torture of disabled individuals at a care center in Voldaabad has been published, and we are currently examining the validity of that information. Since there were possibilities regarding the validity of the published information, the Welfare Organization of the province, based on its legal authorities, took action to close the mentioned center," but "no credible evidence regarding the torture of disabled individuals with dogs and chains has yet been found in this center.