Yazdi calls for closure of "illegal" paper

TEHRAN, July 31 (AFP) - Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi on Friday branded as "illegal" the return under a new name of a banned moderate newspaper which supports reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

"The publication of a previously forbidden newspaper under a new name is illegal, and we are asking the culture ministry to take action before someone else does," Yazdi said during the weekly Moslem prayers at Tehran University.

Iran's press court last week upheld a ruling to close down Jameeh newspaper for publishing "lies" and "disrupting public order."

Jameeh first rolled off the presses in February and became a symbol of press freedom as championed in the Islamic republic by Khatami, a moderate cleric.

The new paper, named Toos, employs the same editorial team as Jameeh and began publishing the day after the press court's decision.

Yazdi denounced the "parasitic proliferation" of newspapers and magazines.

"The Islamic people of Iran will not tolerate insults and attacks against their beliefs and the Shiite clergy," he said.

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