Rouhani: Greatness of the Leader Brings Grandeur to Iran

RoozOnline

President Hassan Rouhani’s provincial visits began with the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, on the border with Iraq, and this visit was met with worker protests and at the same time praise from conservative hardline Principlists for continuing former president Ahmadinejad’s cyclic provincial visits. One of his stops, Rouhani said during a speech, “It must be realized and understood that the greatness of leader brings greatness to Iran.”

Rouhani’s trip to Khuzestan began last Tuesday. It was scheduled to be for three days and its purpose was announced by him to “learn first-hand the demands and problems of the people of Khuzestan.” The trip was arranged after parliamentarians from Khuzestan province publicly complained, after the government submitted its annual budget to the Majlis, about a fall in the credit allocated for their province and submitted their resignations en masse. They called for greater attention to: the credit needs of the province; its air pollution problem; issues related to the transfer of Khuzestan’s water to other provinces; unemployment; city sewage and the pollution of drinking water; and, the rebuilding of the war-stricken regions.

Despite this though, Rouhani’s executive aide Mohammad Shariatmadari depicted the resignation and protest by Khuzestan MPS as futile.

Rouhani’s trip to Khuzestan province comes at a time when a group of workers in the province protested on the route where the president’s entourage was travelling and in some other spots. As reported by Iran’s ILNA labor news agency, some 60 workers from the Ahvaz Sugar and Sugar Cane Refinery gathered in protest on the president’s route from the Airport. Also, another thousand contractor workers from the Razi Petrochemical plant gathered in front of the central office of the company on Tuesday, for the fourth time in two weeks and called for Rouhani to visit the Imam Port industrial region and learn of the problems that contractual workers faced. It had been reported earlier that the trip to the province primarily included visits to the cities of Ahvaz, Abadan and Khoramshahr.

Raja News, closely affiliated to the Steadfast Front (comprising hardline conservative Principlists that support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), pointed to Rouhani’s first provincial trip and wrote, “The formation of the new administration and its major differences with the previous president had created the impression for some right from the beginning that the new administration – which calls itself the government of foresight and hope – would never step into the same shoes as the previous administration and by cancelling the cyclical provincial trips that were initiated by Ahmadinejad, would embark on a new model to manage the high-level issues of the country. But the administration’s decision to resume the cyclical provincial trips and the trip to Khuzestan province indicates that the practice that had been launched by the previous administration and was supported by the masses and the supreme leader of the revolution would continue. This measure can be viewed as a strong point in the current administration and in principle the continuation of the one of the important points of the previous one.”

What Did Rouhani Say in Khuzestan Province?

Rouhani made a number of speeches during his specific stops and events in the province and at the same time made some promises to its residents. In his meeting with the clerics of Khuzestan, he said, “I will say this very expressly that other than religious and Islamic jurisprudence issues, this administration believes in that provision of the constitution where not just the foreign policy but all the policies of the country are the responsibility of the supreme leader. This administration doesn’t just say this, it believes in it in practice. We know that the greatness of the supreme leader means greatness for Iran. Everybody must realize this and must understand it.”

In his meeting with the military men of the province, Rouhani made a reference to that “The Islamic republic of Iran solidly insists on the defense of its rights and is not willing to retreat even a millimeter from its rights, just as it did not give away a millimeter of its territory to the enemy.” He continued, “Khuzestan must remain the memory land of resistance even though there are other necessary issues as well. We must not look only on the selflessness of the nation in this land, but along with it and by visiting the brave land must also look at the reconstruction of Khuzestan and this green region of glorious industry and rebuilt cities which are now better than the years before the (8-year) war (with Iraq).”

Rouhani said that the plan to change the course of the Karoon River to central Iran would be stopped. “The High Water Council in the current government has decided that the tributaries that form the source of the Karoon River not be used for anything other than providing drinking water. You should be aware that if there had been any other plans, they will be cancelled,” he said. Rouhani emphasized that his administration planned to revive Karoon River, that the Ahvaz water purification plant would be pursued and that Shat-al-Arab river would be dredged. He also said, “The government is determined to declare all of Abadan and Khoramshahr as the Free Arvand Region Zone.”

Speaking a meeting where the potentials of the province were discussed, Rouhani said, “Unilateral development was not possible; the country must develop in a balanced manner. Today we are at a special location and one cannot be indifferent to the problems stemming from the Orumieh and Karoon lakes and leave them to themselves. How is it possible to have good production and industrialization while living in unhealthy pollution? Our ultimate goal is to improve the living conditions of people from a materialistic and non-materialistic perspective and for this all aspects must be considered.”

Rouhani’s trip to Khuzestan ended with a press conference, while some reports spoke of complaints that his visit had not included stops at some other towns and places. And while it had been announced that he would not receive any letters during the trip, the tradition of writing letters and petitions to visiting officials was witnessed to be well alive and active.

The posting and publication of Rouhani’s photographs from his trip brought forth some complaints and controversy. In response to photographs that showed people chasing Rouhani’s motorcade during his visit, some called for taking steps to stop this practice and not allow anyone to do this. Also, the news reports that some schools were shut so that students would go to the welcome ceremony also have been protested by some people.