Yalda Night Market; Premium Pomegranate Prices Range from 4,000 to 12,000 Tomans per Kilogram

The newspaper Etemad, in a field report on the 'Yalda Night Market', wrote: 'Although the significant increase in inflation has shrunk the Yalda table of Iranians, studies show that the demand for special Yalda foods remains high across all regions of Iran.' The newspaper Te'adaal reported on the 'clear duality in the government's currency policy' and cited predictions from some economic experts stating that after the dollar price exceeded 3,500 tomans last week, it will gradually reach '4,000 tomans' in the last three months of the current year. The newspaper Jahan San'at reported that Abbas Akhundi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, stated that there are currently 33,000 kilometers of arterial roads in Iran, with '40 percent of the roads in poor condition.' This newspaper also reported on the closure of music classes in cultural centers since the management of Shahab Moradi began in June of this year, quoting Abdolhossein Mokhtabad about efforts to restart music classes in cultural centers. The newspapers Javan, Vatan-e Emruz, and Kayhan, in their Saturday issues, warned the government regarding nuclear negotiations, attacking several reformist figures or those close to the government for criticizing the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Kayhan described the speeches of these two university professors as 'structural-breaking' and 'against nuclear activity' and called for 'action' against them. The newspapers Etemad, Arman, and Ebtekar dedicated their front pages to Mohammad Khatami, the reformist president. Etemad reported that Khatami, in a meeting with representatives of 70 student organizations, stated: 'Reformists must critique themselves.' The newspaper Arman quoted Khatami saying: 'Security is not created by establishing a security atmosphere,' while Ebtekar quoted him stating: 'Opponents have no place in society.' The newspaper Resalat, on its front page, quoted Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, stating: 'The internal leaders of the sedition have wronged the people, the country, and the leadership,' but if 'the seditionists confess, the nation and the leadership will accept.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan quoted Mohammad Reza Aref saying: 'Some want a security atmosphere to remain in universities.' According to this newspaper, the head of the Iranian Hope Foundation stated in a joint meeting of student organizations from public and private universities: 'The atmosphere of despair and security and the one-dimensionality of universities has been imposed by certain individuals, and these individuals are now trying to maintain this situation, but you students must change this atmosphere.' The newspaper Farhikhtegan reported that 'Amir Hossein Zamani Neia, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, has been appointed as the Deputy for International Affairs at the Ministry.' This newspaper emphasized that 'the presence of Amir Hossein Zamani Neia in this position sends a clear message: Bijan Zanganeh is seeking to have an experienced individual in Iran's oil diplomacy.' The clear duality in currency policy; the dollar's rise towards crossing the 4,000 tomans mark. The newspaper Te'adaal reported on the 'clear duality in the government's currency policy' and cited predictions from some economic experts stating that after the dollar price exceeded 3,500 tomans last week, it will gradually reach 4,000 tomans in the last three months of the current year. This newspaper, in its Saturday front page, reported on the 'clear duality in the government's currency policy,' stating: 'While the dollar rate in the free market has recently exceeded 3,500 tomans and has been accompanied by fluctuations, government officials have presented contradictory viewpoints and analyses regarding currency rate fluctuations.' According to this newspaper, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht emphasized that 'we cannot tolerate the exchange rate of the rial against the dollar any longer; in our view, the current figure in the free market is invalid and should be reduced through floating currency management,' while the Central Bank announced that 'the Central Bank's concern is to reduce the fluctuations in the dollar rate' and at the same time defended 'the increase in the dollar rate due to international developments and economic indicators.' The newspaper Te'adaal stated that the Central Bank's analysis of the reasons for currency rate fluctuations in the market was a response to 'reports from some media' that assessed the dollar's fluctuations as a result of the statements of the Central Bank's governor and the Central Bank's currency game aimed at covering the budget deficit and compensating for reduced oil revenue and lack of currency resources for the government. This newspaper also emphasized that 'the contradictory viewpoints and analyses' of the government spokesperson and the Central Bank regarding the increase in the dollar price and other currencies 'indicate that there is no uniform policy regarding currency rate determination within the government, and while some officials are seeking to reduce currency fluctuations and lower the dollar rate, the Central Bank, which is the main authority in the country's currency policy, has accepted a gradual increase in line with international developments and economic indicators.' The newspaper Te'adaal recalled that 'on Thursday, currency traders in the currency market announced the selling rate of each dollar between 3,490 to 3,515 tomans, each euro between 4,370 to 4,400 tomans, each pound between 5,480 to 5,500 tomans, and each Emirati dirham between 960 to 958 tomans, while the selling rate of each full Bahar Azadi coin was between 995,000 to 1,000,000 tomans, and the rate of each gram of 18-carat yellow gold in the domestic market was 102,000 tomans, and the rate of each ounce of gold in global markets was 1,198 dollars.' This newspaper noted that the price of each barrel of crude oil on Friday, December 28, 1993, was between 54 dollars in the U.S. and 59 dollars in the North Sea, referring to predictions from economic experts about 'increased U.S. revenue from oil sales, reduced oil prices, and production costs,' which 'will lead to increased economic growth and improved U.S. revenue, thus increasing the purchasing power of the dollar against other currencies and gold. Consequently, the world economy will witness a decrease in gold prices and the exchange rates of other countries.' According to the newspaper Te'adaal, for this reason, Iranian economic experts have also predicted that the dollar rate will increase in the coming months and will likely reach around 4,000 tomans by Nowruz 94.' This newspaper referred to the prediction of Morteza Imani Rad, a faculty member of the Industrial Management Organization, regarding the dollar prices in the last months of the current year, stating: 'Morteza Imani Rad, who in Mehr 89, when the dollar price in the free market was 1,070 tomans, warned of a sharp increase in currency prices in the two years following that, now says the dollar is moving towards 4,000 tomans.' The newspaper Te'adaal, however, described the trend of the dollar price increase in the coming months as 'gradual,' stating: 'The dollar will experience a gradual upward trend in the remaining months of 1393 and next year, gradually approaching 4,000 tomans.' Emphasis by Kayhan on the necessity of dealing with Ahmad Shirzad and Sadegh Zibakalam due to nuclear criticisms. The newspapers Javan, Vatan-e Emruz, and Kayhan, in their Saturday issues, warned the government regarding nuclear negotiations, attacking several reformist figures or those close to the government for criticizing the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. The newspaper Javan published the warning of the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran to the Iranian negotiating team and quoted Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani stating: 'Be careful not to harm Iran's dignity in the negotiations.' According to this newspaper, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran emphasized that 'the Iranian delegation is awake and knows that America is the number one enemy of our nation, which seeks to harm our dignity,' and 'the request of our nation and leader from the negotiating team is to be careful not to harm Iran's dignity.' The newspaper Javan also reported that Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic, in a speech before this week's Friday prayers in Tehran, stated: 'Today, the enemies of Islam and the sacred Islamic Republic of Iran are seeking to create sedition, and the virtual space has provided the ground for them.' The newspaper Vatan-e Emruz, close to the Stability Front, in its Saturday issue, severely attacked Ahmad Shirzad and Sadegh Zibakalam for their speeches at Tehran University and their criticisms of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. This newspaper, in its front page headline 'In Accord with Israel,' described the statements of Ahmad Shirzad and Sadegh Zibakalam as 'the footprints of Netanyahu and Obama's wishes in the nuclear versions of the government's supporters' and wrote: 'The lack of support from the academic community for the nuclear negotiations has become one of the government's major gaps and concerns.' The newspaper Vatan-e Emruz emphasized that 'despite repeated requests from the President for the academic community to defend the nuclear negotiations and despite the frequent appearances of Javad Zarif in academic circles and his emotional speeches, the academic community still distances itself from what Zarif has left in the nuclear negotiations,' and that reformist figures and government supporters 'have focused solely on one issue instead of defending the performance of the negotiating team.' This newspaper referred to the speeches of Ahmad Shirzad and Sadegh Zibakalam at Tehran University, stating that they attempted to target 'Iran's nuclear rights.' Previously, Sadegh Zibakalam, one of the controversial supporters of the government's foreign policy, had taken positions that suggested a desire to shut down nuclear facilities, but what happened last Wednesday at Tehran University was essentially the output of the nature and viewpoint of this current regarding the legitimate nuclear rights of the Iranian people and also the negotiations of Mr. Zarif. Vatan-e Emruz wrote: 'The reformists supporting the government officially announced their policy regarding the nuclear issue. They explicitly stated that nuclear technology is of no benefit to the country and that Iran's nuclear facilities should be dismantled,' and 'in fact, from their perspective, nuclear shutdown should be realized,' with Ahmad Shirzad stating in his speech last Wednesday at Tehran University: 'The heavy water reactor in Arak is very harmful, and the Chernobyl incident involved such reactors, and now the Western side in the negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran says to replace the heavy water of this power plant with light water, which is better for us as well.' The newspaper Kayhan also explicitly called for action against Ahmad Shirzad and Sadegh Zibakalam due to their speeches last Wednesday at Tehran University, labeling these two university professors as 'internal loudspeakers of the enemy in the nuclear challenge' and describing their statements as 'structural-breaking' and 'against the nuclear program,' stating that some members of parliament 'have called for legal action against such individuals.' This newspaper quoted Ismail Kowsari, a member of the National Security Commission of Parliament and a former commander of the IRGC, describing Ahmad Shirzad, a former member of parliament and university professor, as 'humiliated' for criticizing the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, stating: 'There is no doubt that individuals like Shirzad are humiliated, but security and judicial authorities must identify these individuals according to the law so that such individuals are not given any responsibility.' The representative of the Supreme Leader in Kayhan also, in the editorial of Saturday's issue of this newspaper titled 'Emphasizing the Minor,' wrote: 'While the nuclear negotiations with the 1+5 group have reached sensitive stages, and the opponent does not hide its ultimate demand for the complete cessation of the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities, some individuals inside Iran are precisely repeating the enemy's ultimate goal.' The editorial writer of Kayhan emphasized that 'these individuals, whom the opponent insists on exaggerating through the method of 'emphasizing the minor,' had also expressed the declared demand of the 1+5 during the heat of the nuclear negotiations in 1392, which, of course, faced indifference from the people and the authorities of the system.'