English-language financial daily debuts in Iran
A new English-language financial newspaper in Iran is viewed as a promising sign for the country; however, its success largely depends on the positive outcome of the nuclear talks.
On Sept. 7, the first issue of the Financial Tribune, a new English-language daily, hit Tehran's newsstands. At 12 pages, the paper costs 2,000 tomans (about 60 cents) — almost twice as much as privately owned Persian-language newspapers. The newspaper mostly covers economic and financial issues, but also news related to the nuclear negotiations.
Some see the publication of a new English-language Reformist financial newspaper as signaling a relative increase in press freedom under President Hassan Rouhani. However, inside Iran, it also means that some are hopeful on reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal with the West, securing the removal of sanctions and witnessing a revival of Iran’s economic relations with both its neighbors and the West.
English-language newspapers in Iran are not common; the Financial Tribune is the country's first and only English-language economics newspaper. Currently, four other English-language newspapers are published in Iran: Tehran Times, which operates under the mayor’s office; Kayhan International, a Persian-language edition of Kayhan operating under the supreme leader’s office; Iran Daily, which operates under the umbrella of the administration’s Islamic Republic News Agency; and Iran News, which reflects of the views of Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
The Financial Tribune's editor-in-chief, Khosrow Ghadiri, is the former editor of Hamshahri newspaper's international section, and has close ties with both Reformists and moderates.
