An Iranian newspaper has been banned after carrying articles critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies, the state Press TV satellite station said on its website.

A government media body revoked the license of Tehran Emrooz on Saturday.

Tehran Emrooz's publisher was summoned to a court on Sunday to answer charges of "printing pictures and editorial material insulting to the president and propagation of lies with the intention of agitating public opinion", Fars News Agency said.

The daily last week published a special issue on the third anniversary of Ahmadinejad's election that included articles criticizing the government's economic record.

The daily's editorial board acknowledged in a statement on Sunday it had gone beyond fair criticism of the government and issued an apology, the official IRNA news agency said.

Update: Condemnation

27th June 2008

Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the 11-year prison sentence imposed on Kurdish journalist Mohammad Sadegh Kabovand on 22 June for “activity against national security.”

The authorities have no scruples about using unfair trials to convict journalists on trumped-up charges, Reporters Without Borders said. No consideration was given to Kabovand’s poor health, either. This especially severe sentence is a message to all those who do not kowtow to the regime, especially in the Kurdish northwest. The decision to close Tehran Emrooz was taken without referring to any court. President Ahmadinejad uses government commissions to settle his political scores.

The former editor of Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan, a weekly closed down in 2005, Kabovand received his 11-year sentence from a Tehran revolutionary court for creating a human rights organisation in Iran’s Kurdish region. Since his arrest in July 2007, he has been held in Tehran’s Evin prison, where he spend the first five months in solitary confinement.

Bitter rifts within Iran's leadership came to the surface on Friday when the authorities banned the evening edition of a newspaper controlled by Tehran's mayor, a leading rival of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Hamshahri, a daily owned by Tehran's municipality, angered the president by reporting an argument between his ministers and the central bank governor, Tahmasb Mazaheri.

The story struck a nerve because it highlighted the reasons behind the president's acute political vulnerability. One year before he faces re-election, Iran's economy is stagnant, living standards are falling and unemployment remains at crushing levels. This is in spite of the windfall gains brought by record oil prices.

Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, has emerged as Ahmadinejad's leading opponent and a possible challenger in the next presidential election. Hamshahri, which Qalibaf indirectly controls, has made a point of reporting Iran's economic woes and linking them to Ahmadinejad.

The president has now retaliated. Of the newspaper's two editions, one has been shut down. By a decision of the press supervisory board, Hamshahri evening edition has been banned. The reason for banning this publication was the propagation of untruthful news with the aim of creating disruption in the country's economic condition, reported the official news agency, IRNA.

Iran has closed down a prominent reformist weekly which has often criticised the policies of conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran's Press Supervisory Board have sent a letter to the Shahrvand-e Emrouz (Today's Citizen) weekly formally informing it of the decision.

It was banned because of content which was contrary to the previous commitments of the publisher, Kargozaran said, without giving specific details.

Since 2000, the Press Supervisory Board and Iranian courts have closed some 100 publications, condemning many as pawns of the West and accusing them of trying to undermine Iran's system of clerical rule.

The semi-official Fars News Agency said Shahrvand-e Emrouz had 'misrepresented' some of the government's actions.

An Iranian newspaper has been shut down for publishing an article that authorities deemed sympathetic to Israel.

An official at the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, says the Kargozaran newspaper was closed because it sanitized the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza.

The official said the article suggested Hamas officials were terrorists and brought on civilian deaths by hiding in schools and hospitals. It is not clear when the ban will take effect — the paper did appear on newsstands on Friday.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the decision by the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance to suspend Hemat, a weekly that supports allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The ministry said a spoof movie poster on the front page of the latest issue, on 1 February, had insulted senior government officials.

The spoof poster, for an imaginary movie called Slaying of Ahmadinejad, alluded to the presidential election scheduled for June. The poster showed the photo of the film's supposed director, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, together with the photos of its three stars: former President Mohammad Khatami, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Tehran's current mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. All three are potential rivals to Ahmadinejad in the election.

The Commission for Press Authorisation and Surveillance, the censorship arm of the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, ordered the newspaper's suspension for insulting high-placed regime officials.

Two major reformist newspapers have been shut down before Friday's election.

All copies of newspaper Etemad Meli have been seized by the government after reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi made allegations that President Ahmadinejad was involved in several financial scandals. Additionally, the unofficial newspaper of the Islamic Iran Participation Party, Yas-e No, has been shut down.


Hossein Bastani, an Iranian dissident journalist living in France claimed that other reformist newspapers were issued a gag order 96 hours before the election.

With the widespread use of new media among Iranian youth, Bastani believes that dissenting bloggers are more at risk than journalists because of their relative obscurity.

Reformist campaigner Ghomar Asheghaneh recently reported that renowned Iranian blogger Ali Kalai, reported missing a month ago, is in jail.

Bastami fears that while the Iranian government will often withhold from torturing famous journalists because of the public's reaction, young bloggers are prone to much harsher treatment.

A With at least 30 journalists currently in prison, Iran replaces China as the world's worst jailer of journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ called on the Iranian authorities to release all journalists who have been detained following the country's disputed June 12 presidential elections.

CPJ research shows that at least 24 detained in the aftermath of the elections remain in custody, in addition to at least six journalists who were in detention prior to the disputed elections. In the past few days three journalists have been freed, while at least three others have been arrested.

Of the 30 journalists currently behind bars, 13 work primarily for print publications, three work for online publications, two work for television stations, six are primarily bloggers, and an additional six are freelancers or with unknown affiliations.

The Iranian authorities have orchestrated a campaign against journalists of all types since the June 12 presidential elections, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem: Despite some isolated releases, the number of journalists behind bars is at an all time high. The authorities should immediately release all the detained journalists.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Iranian authorities' decisions to revoke the licenses of three reformist newspapers.

The Association for the Supervision of Publications in Iran revoked the licenses of the Tehran-based dailies Farhang-e Aashti, Arman, and the Shiraz-based daily Tahleel-e Rooz newspaper.

Iranian authorities have resorted to virtually every measure to suppress critical voices since the country held its presidential elections on June 12, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. The shuttering of these three newspapers is just another step in a long string of actions by the authorities meant to silence critical journalists and media.

The BBC Persian service reported that the Association for the Supervision of Publications in Iran revoked the license of Farhang-e Aashti, saying the paper has received money from foreigners. It is not clear why the other newspapers have been shut down.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Iranian authorities' decision to shut the reformist daily Hayate No. The Press Supervisory Board revoked the license of the Tehran-based daily Hayate No for working outside the regulations, according to local news reports, but the agency provided no details of the alleged violations.

Hayate No is considered supportive of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Its closing came the same day that thousands of Mousavi supporters demonstrated on university campuses in Tehran and nationwide.

It can be no coincidence that on the day student protesters take to the streets, the government muzzles yet another reformist newspaper, said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. Since the disputed presidential election in June, journalists have been censored, harassed and imprisoned. Iran now holds the dubious distinction of being second only to China as a jailer of journalists.

Reporters Without Borders have criticized moves by the Iranian authorities to censor national and international media ahead of the burial of leading dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.

While Iran mourns, the authorities are again censoring the media, including the print media, the BBC and the Internet, said the Paris-based press freedom watchdog.

Montazeri was regarded as the spiritual patron of the pro-reform opposition movement, which blossomed after June's disputed presidential election.

According to opposition websites, hundreds of thousands of mourners were said to have poured onto the streets of Qom yesterday, many chanting slogans against the government. Clashes reportedly broke out between mourners and police after the funeral, but due to a ban on foreign media, the scale of the confrontation is not clear.

Immediately after the announcement of Montazeri's death, Internet connections slowed down in many cities, while telephone communication was disrupted, said Reporters Without Borders.

Journalists were arrested during demonstrations in homage to Montazeri, the press group said, adding that the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance issued a directive banning newspaper editors from publishing articles about Montazeri.

The BBC said fresh attempts had been made to jam its Persian television service to Iran. A program about Montazeri that the BBC was airing included an exclusive interview he gave to the British broadcaster, shortly before his death.

The Iranian state news agency IRNA reports that the country's leading reformist newspaper has been banned for two months for spreading lies.

No additional details were provided, but the pro-reform Etemad daily had recently published an interview with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's press adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, in which he criticized the conservative opposition to the Iranian president.

Etemad has been banned several times over the past decade.

Iranian newspapers have been banned from publishing the names or photos of the leaders of Iran's green movement, according to a confidential governmental ruling revealed by an opposition website.

The ruling, issued by Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance on 18 August, was stamped top secret and urgent. It was addressed to the editors of newspapers and news agencies in Iran, and bans them from publishing any news about the defeated presidential candidates in last summer's disputed election and current opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and the former reformist president, Mohammad Khatami.

The opposition website irangreenvoice.com has published a copy of the letter, which reads: Keeping the society and the public opinion calm is the main responsibility of the media. Security officials have considerations about publishing news, photos and speeches of Mr Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammad Khatami, therefore according to the clause 2 of the article 5 of the press code publishing news, photos and reports about the these people are prohibited.

An Iranian journalist who works for a government paper, and asked not to be identified, told the Guardian: Soon after the election last year, those papers which insisted on publishing news or reports about the opposition leaders were all closed down , so after a while an unwritten ruling overshadowed the media in Iran. Self-censorship meant no journalist even dared to utter the names of the opposition leaders to their editors, let alone publishing any news about them.

Last week, Iran also closed down Asia, a financial newspaper and suspended the permission for publication of two magazines, Sepidar and Parastoo. Since the disputed election in June, Iran has shut eight newspapers, including Etemaad, Iran's most prominent reformist paper, and has imprisoned more than 100 journalists and bloggers. Almost all opposition newspapers are closed down and access to their websites is blocked.

The Iranian newspaper Shahrvand-e-Emrooz has been shut down after mocking President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's relationship with wise man Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei

The cover picture was a photoshopped to look like a 16th-century Persian miniature. The wise man is lecturing his companions who kneel dutifully in front of him.

All the characters are in fact modern-day Iranians. Indeed, the wise man is none other than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's confidant, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. And in an obvious satire of the country's political leaders, it is Mashaei who counts the president among his obedient followers -- not the other way round.

The picture highlights the concerns among Iranian conservatives over Mashaei's growing political influence. Supporters of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, believe that Mashaei, whose daughter is married to the president's son, is attempting to undermine clerical power in Iran.

It is widely believed the picture was the reason behind the enforced closure of the magazine on Monda. Another publication, Roozegar, was also closed.

The authorities in Iran have closed down the country's biggest-circulation reformist newspaper, Etemaad, accusing it of supposedly breaching media laws.

Observers say that the paper had just published a story on the reaction to the emergence of a film showing the police attack on Tehran university last June.

Authorities also suspended publication of a weekly reformist paper whose managing director is the son of one of Iran's opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi. Last week Mehdi Karroubi was beaten up by Iranian security forces at a rally.

Hossein Karroubi told the BBC that the paper, Iran Dokht, was targeted due to his father's political activities. He said that a few days ago, an Iranian government official had spoken to his mother, the proprietor of Iran Dokht. The official had criticised the political stance of the opposition leader.

A third publication, Sina, a weekly provincial newspaper, was also banned, accused of not operating in line with the constitution.