Hossein Shariatmadari

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

Career
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. He is also known for his antisemitic and anti-American views, referring to Jews and Americans as "germs".

On 17 April 2012 Shariatmadari published an editorial in which he stressed Iran's right to enrich uranium to 99%.

Controversies
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."

In 2009, during the first contested presidential elections, Shariatmadari was announced that Mohammad Khatami would risk the same fate of Benazir Bhutto if he was elected. After the elections, alongside the Green Party protests, Shariatmadari accused Mir Hossein Mousavi of being a fifth column of the US and causing the deaths of many people.