TEHERAN – IRAN banned on Tuesday a reformist newspaper owned by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s brother for publishing ‘provocative’ material, local news agencies reported. The press watchdog banned Hayat-e No (New Life) for ‘numerous violations,’ Fars and ISNA reported. The watchdog said the newspaper was initially licensed as a social publication but ‘it allocated a considerable space to political issues especially divisive and provocative issues.’ The newspaper, which supports Iran’s reformist opposition, is run by Hadi Khamenei, who is an outspoken critic of Iran’s hardliners and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
