Kayhan

Keyhan

کیهان

Kayhan (Persian: کيهان‎, English: universe) is an influential newspaper in Iran. Directly under the supervision of the Office of the Supreme Leader, it is regarded to be "the most conservative Iranian newspaper."

Hossein Shariatmadari is the editor-in-chief of Kayhan. His official position is representative of the Supreme Leader.

Today, it has a circulation of about 70,000, with about 1,000 employees worldwide. Kayhan also publishes special foreign editions, which include the English-language Kayhan International. Its circulation in 2008 is estimated to be 350,000.

Kayhan openly supports the Iranian government and the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Shariatmadari stated that the newspaper and its staff "defend the ideology of the Islamic Revolution." Gareth Smyth, the former Iran correspondent of the Financial Times, contends that Kayhan articulates the political views of the "regime's fundamentalist camp." New York Times correspondent Michael Slackman writes that the newspaper "offers insight into the most extreme views of Iran’s leaders and into the mind-set and plans of those who are at the center of power." A former editor of Kayhan, Mahmoud Shamsolvaezin, a "reformist" and a staunch anti government activist, states, "The truth is, Kayhan is an intelligence newspaper". That is the standard rebuke offered by the reformist camp which is increasingly including various extremist and opposition groups like the People's Mujahedin of Iran and various monarchist and separatist groups like Pejak and Koumaleh and Jondollah.

Shariatmadari rejects the labels "conservative" and "fundamentalist", saying "They make us sound like the Taliban." Instead, he calls himself and those with similar views "principalists." Principalists is also the name of the majority faction of the Iranian Parliament.

Kayhan was founded in February 1943 by owner Abdul-Rahman Faramarzi and Dr. Mostafa Mesbahzadeh as editor-in-chief. Later the roles of Faramarzi and Mesbahzadeh were reversed. Published in Iran as well as in London, the newspaper had a circulation greater than one-million prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

After the overthrow of the Shah all of Mesbahzadeh's assets were seized, including the publishing plant which was the main headquarters of Kayhan. Under the guidance of Mesbahzadeh, the London office of Kayhan continued its work and publishes a monarchist weekly issue known as Kayhan London which has a small circulation. In 2006, Mesbahzadeh died at the age of 98 in Los Angeles, California.

The newspaper became controversial in 2010 for iterating an unequivocal condemnation of French First Lady Carla Bruni for her open letter to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who is currently facing death by hanging for alleged murder; the newspaper called Bruni an "Italian prostitute" and "the singer and decadent actress who managed to break the Sarkozy family" who "deserves to die" for her "perverted lifestyle", reiterating the striking similarities between Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and Carla Bruni, and also condemned actress Isabelle Adjani as a prostitute. The French foreign ministry condemned the comments as "unacceptable" and summoned the Iranian ambassador to France; the Iranian foreign ministry sought to distance itself from Kayhan's comments, with spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast stating that "The media can properly criticize the wrong and hostile policies of other countries by refraining from using insulting words. This is not correct."

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