Iran daily banned for criticising president

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

TEHRAN (AFP) — A conservative daily in Iran has been banned for publishing articles and images deemed critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.

Tehran Emrouz, launched a year and a half ago, is close to conservatives critical of Ahmadinejad.

The agency said the press commission withdrew its licence to publish after its director Hossein Ghorbanzadeh was called before the commission because of "the publication of articles and images insulting to the president."

The paper published a special issue on the third anniversary of Ahmadinejad's election containing articles critical of the government's economic policies.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's press adviser, claimed in a personal weblog that...