Conservative Iranian newspaper editor insists on nuclear red lines
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hard-line newspaper Kayhan, has identified several challenges facing the nuclear talks in Vienna.
In a July 14c op-ed, hard-line Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari listed seven challenges to the current nuclear talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1). As the July 20 deadline for the interim nuclear deal approaches, many differences remain.
There was a time when many believed that Shariatmadari’s positions mirrored those of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, since the supreme leader chooses Kayhan’s editor personally. However, it is more accurate to say that Shariatmadari represents the extreme right of the Iranian political spectrum. While this group may be numerically small, its members hold influential positions in the media, parliament and the security and intelligence forces.
