Kayhan: Supreme Leader Opposes JCPOA

Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor of Kayhan (appointed to the position by Ayatollah Khamenei), claimed in an editorial published on Saturday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is opposed to the nuclear agreement with the world powers, JCPOA.

Khamenei has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal, and Shariatmadari’s editorial is the first serious indication that he is actually opposing the JCPOA. Members of Iran’s negotiating team had said publicly that the supreme leader were continually briefed on the progress of the talks and had sent messages to the negotiating team regarding the issues under discussion. His opposition to JCPOA, if Shariatmadari understands it correctly, would be a blow to the deal.

Shariatmadari said in the editorial, entitled ‘The Only Choice Facing Us.’ that many parts of the deal threatens Iran’s independence, security and the “sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and would be “disastrous” if Tehran implemented the accord. (Kayhan, 15 August)

Iran’s parliament (Majlis) or the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) will consider the agreement in the coming days. Senior leaders in Iran are divided on which institution needs to give its final approval or disapproval to the deal, Majlis or SNSC. Khamenei’s ruling on this issue would determine which body would examine the JCPOA.

The hardliners like Shariatmadari prefer that Majlis disapproves the deal. Some hardliners, like military chief Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, prefer the Majlis not even consider the deal, fearing an approval by the body would make the defense-related provisions in the agreement, limitations on ballistic missile program and arms imports, binding for Iran.

For Farsi readers, please click here to read Shaiatmadari’s editorial.

File photo: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (AFP)

‘A Nuclear Agreement Is Impossible’ – Shariatmadari

Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor of Kayhan, arguably the voice of Iran’s hardliners, and himself an appointee of the country’s supreme leader, wrote an editorial in Saturday’s edition of the paper entitled, “A Nuclear Agreement Is Impossible.” Shariatmadari argues that reaching a nuclear agreement with the West that would safeguard Iran’s legitimate interests is absolutely “impossible” and will not happen.

The editorial was published on the eve of a sensitive meeting in Lausanne between Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and Secretary of State John Kerry. They were to hammer out the details of an agreement before the 31 March deadline.

Shariatmadari has been regarded as an aide and confidant to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. His views and analyses during his long tenure at Kayhan have usually approximated those held by the country’s security establishment, especially the IRGC Intelligence. The bold tone in his prediction of the failure of the nuclear talks could mean one of the two things:

1. Shariatmadari is as always voicing the views of the supreme leader and the hard right establishment, in which case he apparently knows that the supreme leader has rejected the proposed agreement by the West, and the talks in Lausanne will fail.

2. In this particular issue, Shariatmadari’s views differ from those held by the supreme leader, but he would still make such a bold statement on the eve of Lausanne talks to rally the hard right establishment behind his views in a last-ditch attempt to stop a nuclear agreement with the West.

Not good in either case. The first option would be the harbinger of growing and very dangerous tensions between Iran and the West, and internally between the hardliners and the moderate Rouhani administration. The second option would signify the growing rift and rupture within the country’s political establishment, at the point of openly undermining Khamenei’s position, with all the uncertainties it would entail.

Meanwhile, the Lausanne talks will begin in a few hours.

For Farsi speakers, here is the link to the Kayhan's editorial.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Denies Kayhan’s Report

Zarif at Hospital for Nervousness and Muscle Spasm After Reading the Report

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today denied that Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had told the national security and foreign policy committee of the Majlis that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had characterized Rouhani-Obama phone call and Zarif-Kerry meeting in New York as “missteps.” (ISNA, 8 October)

The hard-right daily Kayhan had run the story with huge banner headline on its front page earlier today. The headline read, “Zarif: Rouhani’s Telephone Conversation with Obama and My Long Meeting with Kerry Were Missteps.” The newspaper, whose influential editor – Hossein Shaiatmadari, is the official representative of Ayatollah Khamenei at Kayhan, is still carrying the story on its website, hours after the denial by the foreign ministry.

Aside from denying Kayhan’s report, the foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham did not give any details on Zarif’s report to the Majils on the Iranian delegation’s visit to New York. There were speculations in Tehran tonight that Shariatmadari will stick with the story in tomorrow’s edition of the paper.

Meanwhile, Zarif told semi-official news agency Mehr that he became so upset at Kayhan’s huge headline that he fell sick and had to go to the hospital with severe muscle spasm. He also added an entry in his Facebook page at 9:30 pm local time about his condition.

“I just returned from the hospital and could sit down to write you this post. This morning, after seeing the huge headline in one of the newspapers, I felt severe pain in my back and my feet, so bad I could not walk or even sit. I did conduct only two foreign meetings and cancelled the rest of my schedule… 4-5 hours later the pain persisted and I left the ministry and went to the hospital… They said the problem was of nervousness and muscle spasm and will be treated with exercise... In any case, it was a day of bitterness. I learned to say what I want to say only in public.” (Facebook/Mehr News Agency, 8 October)

File photo: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (Mehr News Agency)

Iran Condemns Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

Iran Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, saying Tehran is “deeply concerned” by the use of such weapons in the Arab country, the official news agency IRNA reported today.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday pointed to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, three days after they allegedly killed hundreds of people in attacks near Damascus.

“The situation prevailing in Syria today and the death of a certain number of innocent people caused by chemical weapons is very distressing,” Rouhani said, according to a government website.

Rowhani added that Iran, itself a victim of chemical attacks in its 1980-1988 war with Iraq, “totally and vigorously condemned the use of chemical weapons.” (AFP, 24 August)

Noteworthy is the fact the neither the foreign ministry in its short and terse statement today, nor President Rouhani in his personal statement, put the blame for the attack on either the government or the opposition. This is a significant departure from an onslaught of articles in the past three days published in rightwing Iranian press, led by Shariatmadari’s Kayhan, that blame the opposition forces for the attack.

Syria's main opposition group, the National Coalition, accused the government of massacring more than 1,300 people in chemical weapons attacks on Wednesday. The government denies the claim and accuses the opposition for the attack.

Photo credit: A Syrian couple mourning in front of bodies wrapped in shrouds ahead of funerals following a toxic gas attack in eastern Ghouta in Syria. (Shaam NN/AFP)

Influential Kayhan Editor Calls for No-Confidence Vote Against Rouhani’s Ministers

Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor of Kayhan, has called on Majlis, the Iranian parliament, to vote against many ministers expected to be nominated by Hassan Rouhani after his inauguration on August 4. The list of proposed cabinet ministers has not yet been officially announced, but Shariatmadaril today wrote in an editorial piece that many of them supported the Green Movement in 2009. He did not disclose their names.

The Kayhan editor is believed to have close links to and speaks for an ultraconservative faction within the Leadership House (Khamenei’s office) that controls the country’s security apparatus. 

“Because there are indications that supporters of Fetneh (Green Movement) are in the list (of proposed ministers), the Majlis should send its greetings (to the new government) through no-confidence votes against those ministers,” wrote Shariatmadari. (Kayhan, 31 July)

File photo: Kayhan’s Editor-in-Chief Hossein Shariatmadari (Kayhan)

Viva Spring!

Shariatmadari Compares Use of Slogan by Ahmadinejad to Rise of Bahais in Iran 

In his speeches, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has increasingly been using the slogan, Viva Spring! (“Zend-e Bad Bahar!”). Today, Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor-in-chief of the Tehran’s conservative daily Kayhan, in a hard-hitting editorial published by the news site Mashreq, questions the use of the slogan and suggests that Ahmadinejad and his political circle are following the footsteps of the Bahais, a religion founded and later persecuted in Iran.

“Now one needs to ask, Why should they (Ahmadinejad, et al.) use the phrase ‘Viva Spring!’ instead of using the holy name of Lord of Time (Imam Mahdi)?  It should be noted that the founder of that decadent Zionist sect (the Bahais) first started using the slogan ‘Baab’ (Gate) and claimed relation with Lord of Time and at the end claimed he himself was the Lord of Time,” wrote Shariatmadari. (Mashreqnews, 11 March)

To read Shariatmadari’s editorial (in Farsi), please click here.

File photo: Hossein Shariatmadari (Kayhan)

Iran Should Not Attend Moscow Talks - Shariatmadari

Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor of Kayhan, the leading conservative newspaper in Iran, and one of the shrewdest journalists in the country has called for a boycott of all future talks with the six major powers, including the Moscow Talks scheduled for 18-19 June. Mr. Shariatmadari believes that the West has not been serious in striking a deal with Iran during these talks and instead is using them to keep the price of oil under control and prevent a major shock to their weakened and falling economies. That is, until they find a comprehensive way on how to deal with a host of issues, including Iran and the uprisings in the Arab world.

Sharitmadari believes that Moscow Talks will not produce any major agreements and Iran should not attend the gathering to avoid playing into the US and European hands. It is the enemy, he says, that needs continued “negotiations” and “talks.”

To read Shariatmadari’s op-ed piece in Mashregh News, in Farsi, click here.

Iran Influential Editor Calls for Retaliation against Israel

Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor-in-chief of Kayhan, today called for retaliation against Israeli civilian and military leaders, a day after the assassination of a nuclear scientist in Tehran.

“These corrupt people are easy to identify and are within our reach,” Shariatmadari wrote. "Assassinating army officials and senior leaders in the Zionist government is very easy."

[To read the full text of Shariatmadari’s comments, in Farsi, please click here]

Growing Criticism of Mottaki’s Dismissal

The Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s dismissal of former foreign minister Manuchehr Mottaki while Mottaki was on an official visit to a foreign capital has brought a wave of criticism against Ahmadinejad, especially on the right and among Ahmadinejad’s normally reliable supporters. Ahmadinejad’s ability in making sound judgments and his tolerance of opposition even among his closest circle of advisors have come under scrutiny. Hossein Shariatmadari, the influential editor of the conservative daily Kayhan, best sums up such reactions to Mottaki’s dismissal.

The dismissal of Mr. Mottaki while on a foreign mission would bring suspicion on the part of the public and the foreigners what seriously urgent issue was at work that did not allow Dr. Ahmadinejad to even wait for 24 hours for his foreign minister’s return to make the decision public. [Ahmadinejad] even saw it critical to contact the press to break the news of the dismissal.

What happened in recent days that the respected president could not wait for few hours to dismiss his foreign minister?

Few months ago, Ahmadinejad appointed his “special envoys” for different parts of the world, like Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie to be his envoy in Middle East. Mottaki objected to these appointments, considering them parallel work with the ministry of foreign affairs, and after the intervention by the supreme leader Ahmadinejad backed off and changed the titles to “advisor.” But three days ago, Mashaie was sent to Jordan to carry a message by Ahmadinejad. Perhaps Mottaki objected to this and was dismissed while on a foreign mission. Ahmadinejad could have waited a bit for God forbid not giving the impression that he cannot take criticism even from his own foreign minister.

Ahmadinejad’s Advisor on Religious Affairs Resigns

Hojattoeslam Nasser Saghay Biria

Aftab News File Photo

Hojattoleslam Mohammad Nasser Saghay Biria, President Ahmadinejad’s Advisor on Religious Affairs, has resigned his post in what his close associates are describing as a protest against Ahmadinejad’s alleged un-Islamic views on requirements for women to wear veil and conform to strict Islamic dress code. Ahmadinejad has not yet accepted Saghay’s resignation.

Saghay Biria is a disciple of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. Last week, a day before resigning his post, Saghay had an extensive meeting in Qom with Mesbah. Ahmadinejad himself is known as one of Mesbah’s followers. Saghay’s resignation and the reasoning behind it would create questions about Mesbah’s role as a religious guide to the Iranian president.

Meanwhile, Jahan News reported this week that Esfandiar Rahim Moshaie, the president’s chief of staff, has said that Ahmadinejad feels that the influential editor of ultra-conservative daily Kayhan, Hossein Shaitmadari, is his enemy and within a year would be calling him un-Islamic and Kafar.

“From Shaiatmadari’s point of view, I am not even a Muslim. He believes I am a spy, a monafegh and a part of the Green coup,” said Ahmadinejad, as quoted by Moshaie [Aftab News, 22 July].