Iranian press review: The slap heard across the Islamic Republic
The slap heard across Iran
The new governor of the East Azerbaijan province was slapped in the face during an official ceremony broadcast live on state TV, prompting various reactions in Iran, with many interpreting the incident as being emblematic of how ordinary people feel about the economic and political situation the country faces.
Zeinolabedin Khorram, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a member of its Quds Force branch, was giving a speech during his inauguration ceremony as governor on 23 October when a man in a suit climbed up onto the stage and slapped him on the face.
Local media identified the attacker only by his family name, Alizadeh, adding that he was also a member of military forces, and that his attack was personally motivated.
Authorities praised the new governor after the attack and tried to downplay the incident's significance. However, pro-reformist media widely covered the attack, suggesting it showed people's discontent with those in power.
Reformist political experts and sociologists argued that the slap was emblematic of mounting distrust and anger at the establishment.
Jafar By, a renowned Iranian analyst, told Aftab daily that government pressure on ordinary people created suppressed anger in Iranian society.
"This slap was (a reaction) to all unjustified negative responses to the demands that ordinary people have received from officials," By was quoted as saying. "Some officials live in ivory towers, and they think everyone should pay respect to them. This slap should be a warning to all of them."
Omid Faraghat, a columnist for Arman daily, dubbed the incident "the slap of Tabriz", analysing it as a severe warning from the ordinary people to the elite.
Tabriz is the provincial capital of East Azerbaijan, with a long history of resistance against Iran's central governments.
"The slap of Tabriz was rooted in ordinary people's suppressed anger and all types of discriminations they have faced," Faraghat wrote. "These sporadic sighs, cries, and anger will eventually turn into collective sighs, cries and anger."
Over a million migratory birds killed every year
A new report by environmental activists revealed that over one million migratory birds are killed in Iran during the migration season, Hamshahri daily reported.
Wetlands and wildlife sanctuaries in northern Iran are the winter destination for about five million migratory birds that spend the summer in Russia’s Siberian region.
Environmentalists told the daily that Iran has become a “black hole” for migratory birds due to a lack of regulations and preemptive measures in recent years against poaching.
'You can hear the sound of gunshots all day long, as if migratory birds are trapped in the middle of a battlefield'
- Mohammad Ali Yektanik, wildlife expert
"Every year, during autumn and winter, you can see aerial traps manned all across the northern parts of the country,” wildlife expert Mohammad Ali Yektanik, explained to Hamshahri.
“You can hear the sound of gunshots all day long, as if migratory birds are trapped in the middle of a battlefield."
According to the report, Iran's Miankaleh biosphere reserve is the main "killing field" of birds in the country. The birds hunted in this sanctuary are openly sold in the Fereydunkenar traditional market for as much as $15 for a 200g small migratory bird.
Over 80 different species of ducks, swans, geese, flamingos and pelicans pass the winters in the Iranian provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, and Golestan, located south of the Caspian Sea.
Changing role for Pakistan
Iranian foreign policy expert and adviser to the government Pir Mohammad Molazehi has raised concerns over shifting geopolitics in west Asia following the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul.
Molazehi, whose research focuses on developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan, told Aftab daily that Islamabad's role in the region would change soon due to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"The US hopes that what happened on Iran's northern borders would also take place in the east," Molazehi was quoted as saying.
"In the plan that the US has, Pakistan plays the same role that Azerbaijan played in the north. So that is how the US can surround Iran."
Since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, tensions have risen between Iran and Azerbaijan over Israel's military collaboration with Baku.
"Despite the good relations we have with Pakistan, Islamabad can cause as much of a problem to us as Baku did," Molazehi told the daily.
"If we face an issue with the Taliban in the future, Pakistan would be the main power leading the Taliban from behind the scene. The Taliban does not have the power to act (against Iran) without the backing of Pakistan," he concluded.
Africa: a battleground for Iran and Turkey?
Iranian website Tejarat News reported that the new government in Tehran has begun subtle attempts to strengthen ties with African countries to confront Turkey's growing influence in the continent.
"It has been a while since Iran delicately expanded its influence in the African continent," the daily wrote on Saturday. "Iran is far behind Turkey in creating collaboration with African countries, however, at last, it has made some attempts."
According to Tejarat News, President Ebrahim Raisi's administration hosted a group of Kenyan merchants and companies last week to collaborate on issues of water management.
Before Kenya, Iran's state car manufacturer had invested over $100m in Senegal to run its production line in Africa, but the project was halted because the host country did not have the necessary infrastructure.
As Iran struggled to find political and economic partners in Africa, its arch-rival Turkey rapidly boosted relations with various African nations and opened embassies in 43 countries in the continent.
*Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
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