Iran's Reformists woke up to a stinging editorial Sept. 9 by the hard-line daily Kayhan that grilled them over their sympathy for the resistance front in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley.
Kayhan, which is affiliated with the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, challenged the Reformists to come forth and enrol to be deployed to Panjshir if they are serious about such support. Kayhan described the pro-Panjshir camp as "a tiny but raucous" group.
In the wake of the Taliban advance on Panjshir, Iran's Reformist figures and papers have been sharply criticizing the Islamic Republic for looking the other way and failing the resistance front in the rugged valley.
Kayhan labeled the Reformists as a pro-West group, trying to send the "wrong signal" on Afghanistan and "serving America" in their "desperate push to complete Washington's jigsaw" in the war-ravaged nation. The ultraconservative paper, as well as other outlets, including Fars News Agency, have in recent months drawn the ire of the Reformists by justifying the rise of the Taliban, arguing that the Sunni group "will not harm" Afghanistan's Shiite minority.
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