Most Iranian newspapers on Sunday (September 7) gave front-page coverage to President Rouhani’s visit to the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi during which the chief executive said, “We are now out of recession.” The emergency landing on Iranian soil of a charter plane carrying American and NATO forces from Afghanistan to the UAE drew as much attention. “A NATO plane is forced to land in Iran” and “102 uninvited guests arrive at Bandar Abbas” were two of the headlines the Persian-language dailies used to cover the controversial emergency landing of the flydubai plane in the southern Iranian port city.

Ebtekar: “God willing, I will be the [President’s] choice for science minister,” acting Science Minister Mohammad Ali Najafi says in response to a question as to when the new science minister will be named by the president to secure parliamentary approval.

Ebtekar: “More than 50 MPs sign a petition to impeach the education minister.” The likely impeachment of President Rouhani’s education chief comes two weeks ahead of the reopening of schools in Iran after an almost three-month recess.

Javan: “Twenty hours of talks seem to have failed to narrow the gap” is the title the principlist newspaper has chosen to cover bilateral talks between Iran and the US ahead of negotiations in New York with P5+1 later in September.

Arman-e Emrooz: “Former sportsmen who sit on Tehran City Council are nowhere close to Takhti.” That is the title of an op-ed by university professor and political analyst Sadegh Zibakalam. It refers to the election of Mehdi Chamran, an ally of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as chairman of the council by its members. Chamran replaces Ahmad Masjed Jamei, a former Cabinet minister under President Khatami and a reformist. Until a few days before the in-house vote of the council, Abbas Jadidi, Hadi Saei, and Hossein Rezazadeh, who have won an array of medals in world and Olympic events in wrestling, taekwondo, and weightlifting respectively, were in the reformist camp. But on the day of the vote they broke ranks with reformists. Zibakalam describes the last-minute change of heart as unethical and contrary to the principles of sportsman chivalry which are widely attributed to Takhti, a famed Iranian Olympic gold medalist who passed away in 1967. The analyst argues that such practices are not in line with the spirit of sportsmanship, even if these athletes identify themselves as followers of Iran’s wrestling great: Takhti.

Arman-e Emrooz: Iranian taxi drivers are to learn the ABCs of their profession in universities.

Afarinesh: “Imam Reza set an example of moderation and prudence in politics,” President Rouhani told the people of Mashhad on the birth anniversary of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite Imam whose mausoleum is in Mashhad. Imam Reza accepted to serve as deputy of Al-Ma’mun, the ruler of his time, only to help narrow divisions in the Islamic community.

Asrar: “Ahmadinejad’s university is not qualified to admit students,” the director general of the Science Ministry’s Development Department said.

Donyay-e Eghtesad: “Financial Tribune, a new English-language daily makes its debut on newsstands.”

Resalat: “The growth in crime rate has stalled,” Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmadi Moghaddam said.

Shargh: Tales by Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad has won the Venice Film Festival’s award for best screenplay.

Shahrvand: “A plan to counter unregistered marriages [a reference to cohabitation] is to be presented to the Planning Council of Tehran Governor’s Office.”

Asr-e Eghtesad: “Iranians to be issued health cards.”

Asr-e Resaneh: “Iran faces no restrictions in having cooperation with Russia on different fronts,” Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

Kayhan: “The path to progress goes through unity among all institutions and strata,” President Rouhani said in Mashhad.

Mardom Salari: “The military-service-completion cards of 13 famous soccer players will be revoked.”

Hadaf va Eghtesad: “Economy is the first priority of the 11th government,” the interior minister said.

Etemad: “Iran and Turkey managed their disagreements.” That is the title the daily uses for an interview with Iran’s Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bikdeli.

Etemad: “Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi complains about the way principlists join hands.” Ayatollah Yazdi, a hardline member of the Islamic Revolution Stability Front, played a prominent role in helping Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rise to power in 2005. In the first two decades of the revolution, this member of the Assembly of Experts was more of a philosopher and scholar and largely stayed out of politics. In recent years he has expressed concerns about perceived deviation from the true path of the revolution and debuted on the political stage. He does not believe in democracy in the same way as reformists and moderate principlists do. He makes no secret of his lack of belief in popular vote, prompting his critics, both clergy and non-clergy, to suggest his ideals run counter to those of the architect of the Islamic Republic who famously said “Popular vote is the criterion.”

Etemad: “Iran’s national volleyball team is through to the second stage of the FIVB World Championship.”

Etemad: “The water share of farmlands to be cut in half,” said an adviser to the minister of agriculture jihad.

Ettela’at: “Economic development and promotion of culture and ethics are what our society needs.… By the end of the year [March 21, 2015] the oil sector will have posted 8 percent growth…. Primary steps have been taken to address environmental problems…. Had it not been for the assistance of the Iranian people and government, Iraq would not have been able to clear its towns of brutal terrorists…. Government tries to consolidate unity in society.” Those are some of the remarks the president made in a speech in Mashhad.

Ettela’at: “Those who do damage to the environment are corrupt,” said Ayatollah Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad, a philosopher and jurist who teaches law at Tehran’s Shahid Beheshti University. Dr. Mohaghegh Damad, who is also a board member of the Center for the Greater Islamic Encyclopedia, has penned a book titled “Environmental Jurisprudence”, which is meant to reconcile traditional jurisprudence with social life in the modern world.

Ettela’at: The Iranian police chief has said a nationwide closed-circuit police monitoring system will be launched shortly.

Khorasan: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham, who is in Mashhad with the president, says Iranian media are largely absent on the global stage. Iran Front Page hopes to have taken the first steps toward filling that void.

The comments Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made at a meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts on Thursday were on the front page of almost every newspaper on Saturday (September 6). Depending on their political leanings, different dailies headlined the story differently. For instance, Javan newspaper, which is close to principlists, quoted the leader as saying, “We need to get ready to play a role in a new world order.” Tafahom cited Ayatollah Khamenei as saying, “Differences over political approaches shouldn’t chip away at [national] unity.” Another headline-grabbing story centered on bilateral talks between Tehran and Washington underway in Geneva prior to negotiations later in September between Iran and P5+1 in New York.

Ebtekar: “Everyone has a duty to support the government,” the Supreme Leader told members of the Assembly of Experts. Following those comments a number of principlists, who have been widely known for their caustic criticism of the 11^th government ever since it took office in August 2013, toned down their rhetoric.

Ebtekar: City of Mice, the latest movie by Marziyeh Borumand rakes in over one billion tomans at the box office in a little more than a week. The puppet show, which makes many Iranians feel nostalgic, has thrown a lifeline to Iranian movie theaters.

Ebtekar: “Where does Hashemi stand in the establishment?” is the title of the newspaper’s editorial by Mohammad Ali Vakili who says in the early years of the revolution Hashemi Rafsanjani was the target of anti-revolutionary elements and later came under attack from hardliners within the establishment. But he managed to ride out the storm and remain part of the system.

Ettela’at quotes Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying that sanctions are no longer as serious an impediment to the Iranian oil industry as they used to be.

Ettela’at:“President Hassan Rouhani has praised Iranian sportsmen and women who have struck medals at international events.”

Tafahom: “News websites which do not have license to operate will be closed down,” deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Hossein Entezami said.

Javan: “Controversial handover of public schools to the private sector.” This headline takes a swipe at the Education Ministry for its decision to hand over some public schools to founders of non-governmental education institutes and says while such a decision could be ideal in reducing the dependence of the education system on state budget, commercialization of educational services is anything but.

Javan, which makes no secret of its critical view of the government and uses every opportunity to imply that nuclear talks with P5+1 would lead nowhere, puts the Iranian deputy foreign minister and his US counterpart on its front page. The image in which the two diplomats are in a face-to-face posture is captioned, “Nuclear talks are not the same as reestablishing ties with the US.”

Roozan: “Some 1,800 Iranian workers died in workplace accidents in the 12 months to March 21, 2014. Almost 90 percent of them had no insurance,” the deputy minister of labor said.

Haft-e Sobh: “The mystery surrounding an Iranian general” is the title of the daily’s lead story which says foreign news outlets keep reporting that Iran’s Ghasem Soleimani [commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force] plays a role in the fight against ISIL militants in Iraq, but Tehran does not confirm the news.

Aftab-e Yazd: “South Pars gas field returns to its glory days,” Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

Abrar: “The antidote to Western media onslaught is clarification and reasoning,” said the Supreme Leader in a meeting with the members of the Assembly of Experts.

Abrar: “Repeated attempts by pirates to commandeer an Iranian oil tanker have been foiled by the Iranian Navy.”

Abrar: “Mr. Ejei, you shouldn’t have gone public with a ruling which is subject to appeal,” the vice president under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said in reaction to an announcement by the judiciary spokesman that Mohammad Reza Rahimi has been convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison term and fines. It seems the former VP, who is widely known by his initials – M. R. – in the Iranian press, hopes to have the verdict overturned on appeal.

Asrar: “Over one billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets has been released,” the Central Bank of Iran said.

Asrar:“No impeachment is on the agenda of the Islamic Consultative Assembly,” said MPMohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard.

Etemad: “Joyfulness is the inalienable right of all of us,” President Rouhani said at a ceremony to praise athletes.

Iran: Iranians bid final farewell to Amir Nasser Katuzian, who was widely known as the father of Iranian law.

Banifilm: An Iranian documentary has won the People’s Choice Award at the Montreal Film Festival.