Iran reformist daily banned for two months: report

AFP: Iran’s press watchdog has slapped a two-month ban on a top reformist daily, Rouzegar (Times), for anti-regime “propaganda” and publishing “state secrets,” the Tehran prosecutor’s office said on Monday.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s press watchdog has slapped a two-month ban on a top reformist daily, Rouzegar (Times), for anti-regime “propaganda” and publishing “state secrets,” the Tehran prosecutor’s office said on Monday.

“Rouzegar newspaper has been banned for two months” starting the same day, ISNA news agency quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying.

“The newspaper has been banned on charges of propaganda against the regime and publishing state secrets,” it added, without elaborating.

Rouzegar first appeared on newsstands on February 3, 2010 to join a half-dozen reformist newspapers which have struggled to survive anti-media repression in the Islamic republic.

The paper, along with the once-banned Etemad (Confidence) daily, enabled the reformists to launch a debate on whether to participate in the upcoming parliamentary election of March 2012.

Reformist newspapers flourished during President Mohammad Khatami’s 1997-2005 presidency, but the country’s press watchdog has since closed most titles down.

Dozens of journalists working for reformist publications have also been jailed following the government’s crackdown on mass street protests which followed the disputed June 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.