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Reuters
today.reuters.com
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-01-02T161054Z_01_HAR258233_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-NEWSPAPER.xml&archived=False
TEHRAN -- The Iranian government on Monday ordered the closure of a daily newspaper
and banned a new women ' s bi-weekly from publication in the first media crackdown
since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office in August. "The Supervisory
Board on the Press agreed to the temporary closure of Asia newspaper and Nour-e
Banovan and ordered their cases sent to court," said the Culture Ministry in
the ban, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
No reason was given for the closure and ban although a journalist at the economic
daily Asia said the paper had been given a warning in recent months for printing
photographs of women considered to have been improperly dressed.
Nour-e Banovan, a planned bi-weekly publication aimed at women, has not yet
been published.
More than 100 publications have been closed by the Iranian government since
2000 although many have re-opened under different names and scores of titles
still exist.
Reformist journalist Isa Saharkhiz said it was rare for the government, instead
of the judiciary, to order the bans.
"The supervisory board had rarely in the past ordered the closure of a newspaper.
The ban by the board indicates a new round of pressure on the press," he told
Reuters.
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