The Revolutionary Guard Newspaper: 'The Proliferation of Hired Performers in Iranian Markets'

The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in its Sunday issue reported with the headline 'The Proliferation of Hired Performers in Iranian Markets' stating: 'Dancing with street music groups is structurally and purposefully promoting vice and debauchery.' This newspaper pointed out that 'for several years, music groups consisting of male and female musicians have been frequently seen in parks, squares, shopping mall entrances, and sidewalks,' writing: 'From the very beginning, there was an impression that these groups spontaneously gathered to earn income by performing Iranian and foreign pieces in the absence of job opportunities.' However, 'how long will the disrespect for religious and cultural norms under the pretext of street music continue? With what support has underground music come to the surface with female street dancers?! What is behind these anti-Iranian-Islamic performances, and who will answer for this negligence?!' The Javan newspaper emphasized that 'the government considers street dancing a job,' stating: 'Interestingly, despite the negative external perception of this matter, the government does not have a negative view on this issue; on the contrary, it provides comprehensive support for them. Concurrently with the rise of the government's internship website, designers of dances, dancers, musicians, singers, and street performers have been included among the jobs available for selection by interns.' This newspaper also wrote: 'Alongside street music performances, in recent years, female singing has also become a normal topic in our country to the extent that if this topic was surprising before, today it is not only not surprising but is also heard in some series of the home display network, and coincidentally, with the normalization of such cases in the media's view and the granting of licenses from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the ground for the release of albums and tapes by female singers has also been prepared.' However, 'the question here is how long will the disrespect for religious and cultural norms under the pretext of street music continue? With what support has underground music come to the surface with female street dancers?! What is behind these anti-Iranian-Islamic performances, and who will answer for this negligence?!' The Hemdeli newspaper in its front page on Sunday titled 'Attack on the People's Vote' wrote that 'in the first session after the elections of Jamna held on Thursday, the principlists insulted the votes cast in favor of Rouhani on 29th of Ordibehesht.' This newspaper reminded that 'Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, one of the speakers at this conference in the Assembly of Experts elections of 94, was included in a list prepared by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, a list from which 15 people managed to enter the Assembly of Experts.' However, 'Mohammadi Kermani, who felt the support of the reformist movement in determining the election results,' on Thursday 'questioned Rouhani's votes at the Jamna conference. He officially called Raisi's votes 16 million halal votes.' Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani has asked the Guardian Council to address the 'violations' in the elections and stated: 'The electoral violations are not significant enough to affect the overall result of the elections, but with a review and re-examination of the violations and reports sent to the Guardian Council, Raisi's votes may increase from 16 to 19 million and Rouhani's from 23 to 21 million.' The Hemdeli newspaper wrote: 'It is unclear how Mohammadi Kermani arrived at these numbers, as the total of Raisi's 16 million votes and Rouhani's 23 million votes would be 39 million, while the sum of 19 and 21 would reach 40 million, which is a million more than the current votes of the two candidates.' This newspaper also referred to the statements of Mohammad Hassan Rahimian, the head of the central council of Jamna, who said: 'The opposing side has resorted to every means to attract even black votes, but this side has insisted on principles and values and has obtained 16 million sincere votes.' Hemdeli emphasized that now 'the principlists not only openly claim electoral violations but have also gone further and insulted the votes cast in favor of Rouhani.' The newspaper wrote: 'Two years ago, after the parliamentary elections, the principlists called the people of Tehran the people of Kufa.' The Shargh newspaper also with the headline 'On the Line of Inducing Violations' wrote: 'Principlist activists who have always defended the integrity of elections in various periods are now widely using the keyword 'violation' in their discourse and are speaking about it in various official platforms; from the loudspeakers of Friday prayers to the Guardian Council.' According to this newspaper, 'in the latest development, two of the temporary Friday prayer leaders of Tehran, namely Ayatollah Mohammadi Kermani and Hojjatoleslam Ahmad Khatami, have also claimed widespread electoral violations and requested the Guardian Council to investigate. These statements, however, were met with a swift response from the Ministry of Interior and the Election Headquarters. The Ministry of Interior not only invited the speakers of these statements to honesty but also warned of legal follow-up.' Shargh also wrote that 'Ahmad Jannati, who has always spoken and defended the integrity of elections in the country, also spoke about electoral violations this time, although he stated that he confirms the integrity of the elections.' However, in addition to this, 'Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, who is both the spokesman for the Guardian Council and the head of the central supervisory board, spoke on the day of the elections about reports of electoral violations and described their number as significant.' This newspaper also quoted Majid Ansari, the legal deputy of Hassan Rouhani, as saying: 'The terms halal and haram have become a pretext for justifying the electoral defeat of some candidates and their supporters; therefore, it is better to address the real causes of their defeat instead of projecting and polarizing society and using religious terms instrumentally, and 'some Friday prayer leaders are expected to maintain the sanctity of the Friday prayer position and the condition of justice that is a prerequisite for this position and not to enter political games with unjust language.' Kayhan, in a note emphasizing that 'the rebels of yesterday against the people's votes today cannot tolerate legal follow-up of violations,' wrote: 'In the recent elections, despite numerous violations, nearly 16 million people voted negatively against the economic and foreign policies of the eleventh government, and the expectation from these 16 million people to remain silent and not say anything seems strange from the advocates of freedom of expression.' The Resalat newspaper, in its editorial, accused Hassan Rouhani of 'childish revenge' against electoral rivals and wrote: 'It is no longer gentlemanly and in your worldly interest to say unjust things about your rivals and their supporters in every interview and speech. These are childish acts of revenge that lower the dignity of a president and lead to exacerbating conflicts and wasting the country's time in fruitless disputes and losing opportunities for service. In your victory speech, you described those who did not vote for you as seeking tension, violence, and division among the nation, which is worse than debris.' The Shahrvand newspaper, in its Sunday front page titled 'The Indebted City,' wrote: 'Members of the Tehran City Council say the next mayor will face a tough task due to the poor financial situation of the municipality.' This newspaper wrote: 'On the 29th of Ordibehesht, the people of Tehran had an unprecedented presence and participation in the city council elections and chose hope for the future of life in the capital with meaningful votes, but in recent days, some elected officials and potential mayoral candidates have spoken about the ruins that the next mayor will inherit.' Among them, Ahmad Masjed Jamei, a member of the fourth city council of Tehran and an elected member of the fifth council, stated on Twitter that 'the first challenge for the new mayor of Tehran' is 'paying salaries,' writing: 'They ask, can the first challenge for the new mayor of Tehran be paying salaries? Yes! With the astronomical hiring that has begun in the municipality, this will happen.' Mohammad Mahdi Tondgouyan, a member of the Tehran City Council, told this newspaper: 'We have raised the debt issue several times, and the municipality presents a new figure every week. The question is where the municipality is getting all this money from. Until just a month ago, they officially announced that they are approximately 24 trillion tomans in debt to individuals and banks. In addition, there are about 40 trillion tomans of unfinished projects in the municipality. All of these indicate the difficult conditions the next mayor of Tehran will face.' Mohammad Haqani, the head of the Environmental Committee of the City Council, also stated in an interview with the Shahrvand newspaper that 'the uncertainty of the municipality's debts is a significant crisis awaiting the future management of the municipality and the fifth council, and this is undeniable. In Farvardin this year, the municipality borrowed from Bank Shahr for the monthly salaries of personnel, which is about 450 billion tomans, separate from the municipality's debts to contracting companies. There are also overdue projects with at least 40 billion tomans in debt. We tried to find out the exact debt of the municipality, but the municipality management did not announce such a thing, but I have heard from internal sources of the municipality and other channels that the municipality pays about 1 trillion tomans annually in interest on overdue debts and loans; the municipality does not provide us with any information, but we have reached these figures from the municipality's subordinates.' The Etemad newspaper reported on its front page about 'The Shock of the Oil Market to OPEC,' stating: 'The price of oil fell by 3 dollars a day after OPEC's agreement to extend production cuts, surprising everyone.' Reza Zandi, a reporter for Etemad who is attending the 172nd OPEC meeting, wrote about the dismissal of the Algerian oil minister: 'While the oil ministers were negotiating in a closed session, the news of the dismissal of the Algerian energy minister surprised everyone. Nourredine Bouterfa, one of the architects of the OPEC agreement six months ago, was dismissed. His dismissal was even more controversial than the dismissal of Manouchehr Mottaki, the former Iranian foreign minister by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as it occurred amid important OPEC negotiations.' The Arman newspaper reported with the headline 'Tanning has Become a Crime,' quoting an official from the Food and Drug Organization stating: 'Solarium devices lack any permits for production, import, and clearance, and the provision, maintenance, supply, consumption, and use of these items is a crime.' Jamal Toli from the Food and Drug Organization expressed regret that tanning has become one of the criteria of beauty among individuals in society, especially women, stating: 'The use of solarium devices is one of the body tanning methods that, despite high prices and serious side effects, is used by people.' However, 'the Medical Equipment and Supplies Department of the Food and Drug Organization has declared the use of solarium devices prohibited. Here we explicitly state that these devices lack any permits for production, import, and clearance, and the provision, maintenance, supply, consumption, and use of these items is a crime and subject to prosecution.' The Arman newspaper quoted this official from the Food and Drug Organization as saying: 'The use of solarium is dangerous even for a single use due to the direct exposure to ultraviolet rays and the increased risk of skin cancer, especially the dangerous type known as melanoma,' and 'in many cases, the first action of the colloquial phrase 'kill and make me beautiful' has found an external counterpart, and the nature of such actions is scientifically questioned, as premature aging, eye damage, skin blistering, reduced collagen levels, and increased skin pigmentation have been observed as side effects of tanning with solarium devices among users of these devices.'