Pezeshkian criticized by media and activists over aide appointments
Criticism of President Massoud Pezeshkian has started even before he introduces his cabinet to the Iranian parliament which is likely to take place next week.
Criticism of President Massoud Pezeshkian has started even before he introduces his cabinet to the Iranian parliament which is likely to take place next week.
The Iranian media and social media users have particularly accused the President of giving top jobs to two politicians, Hamid Pourmohamadi as head of the Planning and Budget Organization, and Shahram Dabiri as Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs.
According to Iranian media, Pourmohamadi was implicated in a financial corruption case as top suspect in 2011 and was jailed for some time for that. According to the official news agency IRNA, Dabiri was also implicated in a financial corruption case at the Tabriz Municipality and was arrested in 2020 by the IRGC Intelligence Organization. However, he was cleared of the charges later.
Pourmohamadi's supporters in the centrist daily Sazandegi have characterized him as an economic technocrat who has served Iran's previous governments.
Meanwhile, Tehran Municipality's daily newspaper Hamshari has said that Iranians are not happy about the appointments by Pezeshkian. According to Hamshahri, contrary to promises made by the President and his aides, most of those he has so far appointed are aging politicians.
The daily has also charged that Pezeshkian has selected his aides and ministers, who have not been officially named yet, from among his friends and politically likeminded groups. The daily claimed that the public's attitude toward the new appointees is negative.
According to Rouydad24website, Shahram Dabiri is one of several medical doctors Pezeshkian has appointed to executive positions. Dabiri is the owner of a sports club in Tabriz and has held positions at the city's local council and university and is a shareholder of a major hospital in Tabriz. He has studied in Iran, Japan and Russia in the area of nuclear medicine. As a young man, he fought in the war against Iraq in the 1980s alongside Pezeshkian.
Meanwhile, quoting reformist daily Shargh, the website has characterized Pourmohammadi as the shadow governor of Iran's Cenral Bank, and pointed out that he has worked with the governments of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Hassan Rouhani. Iranian media have said that he opposes the idea of merger of Iran's numerous government banks. He was once dismissed from the Iranian Central bank in 2008 for the same reason. He was jailed in 2011 for involvement in a financial corruption case but was released on bail after one month.
Accusations on social media sometimes go beyond charges of financial corruption. Some social media activists have charged that while Pezeshkian won the election by promising to improve relations with the West, on his first day in office he lashed out at the United States and strongly supported Hamas and similar groups in the Middle East. Another activist said that Pezeshkian has a limited mental capacity and keeps repeating himself.
Iranian journalist Farborz Kalantari wrote that Dabiri and his children run a commercial network in medicine and sports. Another journalist, Ali Gholhaki pointed out that Pezeshkian's political rivals have managed to block his choice for the post of Culture Minister and impose a hardline figure on the cabinet.
Meanwhile, several social media users posted a video of clashes at the Tabriz University in 2021 and accused Dabiri of instigating violence among the supporters of various candidates in the city's local Council election.
His selection of Mohamad Ja'far Ghaempanah as Vice President for Executive Affairs has faced criticism due to his two-decade absence from executive roles. However, many have praised Ghaempanah's courage for siding with protesters during the 2022 nationwide uprising.
In a report on Sunday, the ‘reformist’ newspaper Shargh revealed it will be rolled out in three phases, culminating in the training of 1,500 "missionaries" tasked with promoting "the culture of chastity and hijab" with a particular focus on schools and education centers.
Citing Mohammad Hosseinzadeh, director general of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Khorasan Razavi province, Shargh reported that the project is mainly aimed at teenagers and youth with 400 individuals registered to become its missionaries.
"Our goal is to promote an Iranian-Islamic culture, of which the hijab is one of its examples,” Hosseinzadeh said.
When asked about whether the individuals taking part in the course would also be involved in the Nour Plan , an initiative that began in April this year to enforce mandatory hijab laws, Hosseinzadeh said it had not been finalized.
“I don't have any information about whether or not people will be allowed to participate in Nour Plan or Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil after completing this course, but our field of activity is advertisement and promotion," he said.
However, Shargh highlighted that the Tuba Plan's ultimate goal seems to be staffing the hijab division within the Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil, a government institution that shapes and enforces Iran's morality laws.
Led by Seyyed Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani, the institute also referred to as the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was sanctioned in January 2023 by the European Union for being “responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran.”
Last week, Naimeh Islamlou, director of Kheybar Institute announced the commencement of registration for the Touba National Project in Karaj, near the country’s capital in Tehran.
She stated that the free "hijab and chastity promotion” training course will run for 60 hours, training people at three levels and awarding them a “reputable” degree upon completion.
Shargh noted that according to Kheybar Institute’s website, their main role appears to be in staffing and implementation of chastity and hijab projects for Headquarters for Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil.
A unit within Kheybar Institute which they refer to as the 'Fatemi Mujahedan' appears to be aligned with the Tuba Plan, as pointed out by Shargh.
According to the institute's website, the unit runs training courses for hijab promoters at three levels, with 124 courses conducted so far, involving participants from all over the country.
To train, individuals must visit the "Chastity Virtual Specialized University." The so-called university is described as "a training barracks and an ammunition depot for cultural officers of the frontline of chastity and hijab."
One of the registration officials in these courses told Shargh: "We have been holding training programs in the field of chastity and hijab at three levels for nearly 20 years. We took Plan Tuba to the Ministry of Culture and Guidance and got their support so that applicants who want to participate in these courses can have a free training course without spending money."
The registrar, whose name was not mentioned in the Shargh report, said there is no guarantees of employment for those enrolling, "but if they reach level three, they can work in schools, and if they earn, they will be paid with a gift or a gift card."
Ehsan Ahangar, director general of the Ministry of Guidance in Mazandaran Province, announced on July 28 that the Tuba Plan will indeed be focusing on public spaces and schools.
"After completing the course and receiving their certificate, participants will be deployed to promote hijab and chastity, particularly in neighborhoods and schools, which are our main target communities," Ahangar said.
For over four decades, the Islamic Republic has tried to impose mandatory hijab laws on Iranian women through various projects and its crackdown on women who defy its stifling rules continues.
Following the nationwide Women, Life, Freedom uprising sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September 2022 for an alleged hijab violation, women's protests against the Islamic Republic’s oppressive laws have become one of the most significant challenges facing the authorities.
Despite the government's violent suppression, which saw hundreds killed by state security amid the 2022 protests, many Iranian women have continued to defy and resist the Islamic Republic’s hijab laws, appearing unveiled in public places over the past two years.
These acts of civil disobedience however come at a heavy price. Women risk severe penalties and even their lives in the fight for freedom and equality as the battle against what the UN termed "gender apartheid" continues.
Unveiled women have been banned from public spaces, education, workplaces, and even jailed amid the government's fight in the face of nationwide hijab rejection.
