Hossein Shariatmadari

Who is Hossein Shariatmadari?

Hossein Shariatmadari is the managing editor of Kayhan, a conservative Iranian newspaper.

Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Shariatmadari was allegedly tortured by Iranian Shah's Police or SAVAK.

A strong supporter of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he has been described as being "a close confidant of Iran’s supreme leader" Ali Khamenei, and as having "links" to Iran's intelligence services. On February 12, 2009, Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of hardliner newspaper Kayhan, wrote a controversial article suggesting former President Muhammad Khatami might be assassinated if he ran again for president, as had ex-president of Pakistan's Binazir Bhutto.

After the controversial 2009 election and weeks of protest, Shariatmadari wrote an editorial in Kayhan alleging that defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was trying to "escape punishment for murdering innocent people, holding riots, cooperating with foreigners and acting as America's fifth column inside the country" and called for Mousavi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami to be tried in court for "horrible crimes and treason."