Kayhan's Editor-in-Chief: The Government Lacks the Ability and Expertise to Determine National Interests

Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic at Kayhan Institute, reacted to the National Security Council's complaint against Kayhan newspaper and its two-day suspension by accusing Hassan Rouhani's government of lacking "the ability and expertise to determine national interests." In an interview with Fars News Agency, Shariatmadari deemed the suspension of Kayhan as "illegal from a legal standpoint and politically misleading," stating that the order for the two-day suspension by the investigator of the second branch of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office was contrary to Articles 5, 23, and 31 of the Press Law, which stipulates that "the decision to suspend a publication is within the authority of the court and the head of the judiciary, and this right was removed from the prosecutor and the prosecutor's office in the 1999 amendment to the Press Law." He referred to these issues, asserting that the issuance of the suspension order for Kayhan by the investigator of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office was "illegal and outside of his jurisdiction." Previously, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, the Tehran prosecutor's office had deemed Kayhan's headlines contrary to the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran "in regional security matters" and stated that Kayhan would not be published on Saturday and Sunday, November 20 and 21. Kayhan, which is a fierce critic of Rouhani's government, had headlined on Tuesday, November 15, referring to the events in Yemen, stating that "the Ansarullah missile strike on Riyadh, the next target is Dubai." This controversial headline referred to a missile attack by the Houthi group on the capital of Saudi Arabia last Saturday, which the country's defense forces intercepted in the sky over Riyadh airport. Following this, Aladdin Zahoorian, the secretary of the Press Supervisory Board, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, stated that Kayhan's Tuesday headline was deemed "against national security" and a warning had been issued to the newspaper. However, on Wednesday morning, November 16, Kayhan insisted on its previous position in its front-page headline, stating: "National interests lie in supporting the oppressed of Yemen, not worrying about the towers of Dubai." Subsequently, Iranian media reported on Thursday, November 17, about the two-day suspension of this newspaper by the order of the Tehran prosecutor's office. According to Fars, Hossein Shariatmadari, in part of his remarks regarding the government's "lack of ability and expertise to determine national interests," addressed issues that he claimed "over the past four years have inflicted horrific blows to national interests and benefits," citing "the JCPOA disaster, signing the damaging FATF document, signing the 2030 document, announcing the emptiness of the treasury during the heat of nuclear negotiations, and the delusion that the U.S. could destroy all our military facilities with one bomb." He also mentioned "the implementation of destructive economic policies that led to recession, unemployment, and the closure of many factories and production centers, the payment of astronomical salaries to government managers despite the people's economic hardships, and the attack on the IRGC's missile program" as decisions that, according to the representative of the Supreme Leader at Kayhan Institute, "have been against national interests and benefits, leaving no doubt that the esteemed government is incapable of determining national interests and benefits." Shariatmadari further described the two-day suspension of Kayhan as "the latest example of the government's inability to determine national interests and benefits," adding: "Is supporting Al Saud and the Emirates part of our national interests?" He also referred to the broadcast of remarks by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah Lebanon, against the Saudi government and its allies on Iranian state radio and television networks and newspapers, stating: "Based on the procedure that the National Security Council has taken against Kayhan, all television and radio networks of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting should be suspended, and of course, the recent and unprecedented remarks by the esteemed President against Al Saud are another matter." The representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic announced that the government has a "problem" with Kayhan's "documented enlightenment" and added that this newspaper will continue its path "with greater determination." Kayhan was suspended for two days while Riyadh directly accused Iran of being involved in the missile launch from Yemen last Saturday, stating that this act meant "a declaration of war" against Saudi Arabia, and the country would respond to it. The Saudi Foreign Minister also stated that the missile launched from Yemen was "Iranian" and that "Hezbollah Lebanon launched it from areas in Yemen that the Houthis have occupied." Previously, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led regional coalition had stated that the missile launchers were made in Iran. In this context, the U.S. Department of Defense praised Saudi Arabia on Monday for what it called "uncovering" Iran's role in transferring missile systems to Houthi militants in Yemen. However, several senior Iranian military officials described the accusations as "baseless" and rejected them. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also stated that these remarks were "unjust, irresponsible, and destructive." In this context, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan deemed the suspension of his newspaper "unlikely."