April 28
Rafsanjani slams Iran's liberal media
April 28, (BBC) -- Iran's former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,
has defended a crackdown on pro-reform newspapers, saying they undermined
Islam and served Iran's enemies. The comments come after an escalated conservative
campaign against the liberal press which has seen the closure of virtually
all its newspapers and magazines >>>
FULL TEXT
April 27
Judiciary shuts last two reformist papers
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hard-line judiciary shut down the last two
major national newspapers from the reformist camp Thursday, bringing to
16 the number of publications banned this week. The two newspapers, including
a leading daily published by a brother of President Mohammad Khatami, were
the last hit in a wave of closures that began Sunday >>>
FULL TEXT
Khamenei endorses media crackdown
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday endorsed the
recent crackdown on reformist newspapers, describing the publications as
``deviant'' and urging his supporters not to remain silent. Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei condemned what he called ``a deviant media movement that is trying
to shape public opinion and turn it against Islam, the revolution and the
Islamic Republic.'' >>>
FULL TEXT
Iran frees eight accused of serial killings
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Iran Wednesday freed eight of the 22 people
accused of serial killings of opponents of the regime and intellectuals
in late 1998 on "clear proof" they were not guilty, the justice
department said. The reason the case has gone so slowly up to present is
precisely because of the charges against the eight were baseless, the department
said in a statement quoted by the official IRNA news agency >>> FULL TEXT
Student protests grow at press closures
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Students held their biggest protest yet late
Wednesday at the closure of pro-reform newspapers by Iran's conservative
press court, press reports said Thursday. The daily Bayan, one of the few
pro-reform dailies to escape suspension, said 5,000 students demonstrated
peacefully at Ahvaz University in the south of the country in support of
reformist President Mohammad Khatami >>>
FULL TEXT
New ban on papers fuels Iran crisis
TEHRAN, April 27 (AFP) - Iran's conservative judiciary stoked up tension
again Thursday by ordering the closure of the two most important reformist
newspapers, including that of President Mohammad Khatami's brother. The
move, reported by the official news agency IRNA, on top of previous suspensions
left the reformist camp without a voice for the second round of the parliamentary
elections on May 5 >>>
FULL TEXT
Four coups against the press
April 27, Ham-Mihan -- A look at the struggle between the press and
the government in nearly a century >>>
FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
April 26
Reformers Say Iran's Hard-Liners Plan Revolt
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's reformers say they have learned of a ``master
plan'' by hard-liners in the security forces and their allies to crush
the movement for change and even topple the government of moderate President
Mohammad Khatami. They say some elements of the elite Revolutionary Guards,
the police and the state broadcast monopoly have formed a ''crisis committee''
to fan social, political and religious tensions and pave the way for a
possible coup d'etat >>>
FULL TEXT
Students across Iran protest press bans
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Students at Tehran's technical university said on
Wednesday they had suspended classes for the day, as peaceful protests
spread against the banning of 13 pro-reform publications spread across
the country. Hundreds of students at the University of Science and Technology
rallied inside the enclosed campus, chanting slogans, clapping and stamping
their feet in unison >>>
FULL TEXT
Iran pro-democracy newspaper warned
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A court representing Iran's hard-line clergy has
sent a warning to the president's brother to rein in his pro-democracy
newspaper or face sanction, state radio reported today. Saeed Mortazavi,
a judge of the Press Court, notified Mohammad Reza Khatami by letter Tuesday
that his Mosharekat daily newspaper had broken press laws by publishing
additional copies in recent days, the radio said >>>
FULL TEXT
Pro-reform cleric rejects charges against him
PARIS, April 26 (AFP) - Iranian pro-reform cleric Hassan Yussefi Eshkevari
rejected Tuesday charges brought against him by hardline Tehran clerics
and described the accusations as "strange and incredible". Iran's
Special Court for Clergy issued an arrest warrant against Eshkevari for
having attended a controversial seminar in Berlin on April 7 and 8, the
official Iranian news agency IRNA reported earlier Tuesday >>> FULL TEXT
April 25
Protests mount at closure of pro-reform press
TEHRAN, April 25 (AFP) - Anger at a crackdown on the pro-reformist press
spilled on to the streets of Tehran for the first time Tuesday as students
staged demonstrations in favour of freedom of expression. Meanwhile the
conservative-dominated courts kept up their offensive against the allies
of President Mohammad Khatami, levelling serious charges against a cleric
who attended a controversial seminar in Berlin >>>
FULL TEXT
Iran waives ban on daily, protests mount
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hardline judiciary lifted a ban on a popular
pro-reform daily, allowing it to appear on newsstands Tuesday, but 13 other
publications remained closed. Sobh-e Emrouz newspaper, whose publisher
Saeed Hajjarian was gravely wounded in an assassination bid last month,
was ordered closed late Monday afternoon, journalists told Reuters >>>
FULL TEXT
Trial of Hajarian attack suspects open
TEHRAN, April 25 (AFP) - The trial of 10 defendants accused of planning
the assassination of leading Iranian reformist Said Hajarian last month
opened here Tuesday amid extreme political tension in the country. Despite
a statement by the judiciary last week that the hearings would be in open
court the foreign press was banned from the tribunal, with only local journalists
being admitted >>>
FULL TEXT
Arrest warrant issued for Ashkevari
TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Iran's hardline clerical court has issued
an arrest warrant for an outspoken cleric who took part in a seminar in
Berlin on the reform movement, the official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday.
It quoted prosecutor Mohammad Ebrahim Nekounam of the Special Court for
Clergy as saying Hasan Yousefi-Ashkevari would be arrested on his return
to Iran >>>
FULL TEXT
April 24
Iran bans 14 pro-reform publications
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hard-line judiciary has suspended 14 pro-reform
publications in the biggest blow yet to press freedoms championed by President
Mohammad Khatami. The state news agency IRNA said early Monday eight dailies
were among 12 publications banned without trial by the Tehran justice department
for printing material that ``disparaged Islam and the religious elements
of the Islamic revolution.'' >>>
FULL TEXT
U.S. condemns pro-reform media closings in Iran
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday condemned Iran's
hardline judiciary for closing 14 pro-reform publications, saying the move
was a ``blow to the Iranian people.'' State Department spokesman James
Rubin told a regular news briefing: ``These actions are a blow to the people
of Iran, which have clearly expressed their desire for openness and this
kind of freedom in successive elections.'' >>>
FULL TEXT
Khatami appeals for calm after press suspensions
TEHRAN, April 24 (AFP) - President Mohammad Khatami appealed for "calm
and solidarity" on Monday, a few hours after Iran's press court suspended
publication of eight daily newspapers politically close to the reformist
Khatami. "Iran today, more than ever, needs calm and solidairty to
achieve our aims. Today, we need tranquility, especially at the start of
a new Majlis (parliament)," he said at military parade commemorating
the Iranian army and the 20th anniversary of a failed attempt to free US
embassy hostages then held in the eastern city of Tabas >>>
FULL TEXT
April 23
Iran jails another publisher
TEHRAN, April 23 (Reuters) - The publisher of a banned newspaper was
jailed on Sunday when Iran's Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, the
official IRNA news agency said, in a continuing clampdown on the liberal
press. Latif Safari had been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment by the
hardline press court for offences including insulting religious sanctities
-- the most common charge brought against pro-reform journalists in Iran
>>>
FULL TEXT
April 21
Mohajerani summons newspaper chiefs for meeting
TEHRAN, April 21 (AFP) - Iran's culture minister called for a Saturday
meeting of Iranian newspaper chiefs amid mounting pressure on the pro-reform
press, the official IRNA news agency said. Ataollah Mohajerani, a close
ally of President Mohammad Khatami, called for the meeting following strong
criticisms of the reformist press by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
on Thursday >>>
FULL TEXT
Iran rejects US remarks about freedom of the press
TEHRAN, April 21 (AFP) - Iran rejects remarks made by the US State Department
expressing "concern" about attacks on the press by the country's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the official IRNA news agency reported
Friday. Iran rejects the comments by the State Department, and regards
them as "flagrant interference in Iran's internal affairs," said
foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, quoted by IRNA >>> FULL TEXT
April 20
Khamanei attacks reformist press
TEHRAN, April 20 (AFP) - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flayed
pro-reform newspapers and a hardline court summoned Khatami aides for questioning,
accusing them of making anti-Islamic statements at a recent conference
in Berlin. The elite Revolutionary Guards, directly controlled by Khamenei,
meanwhile called for nationwide demonstrations Friday to show "hatred
and repugnance" at "the blows dealt to Islam and the people"
at the gathering >>>
FULL TEXT
Reformists battered from all sides as Iran political tensions mount
TEHRAN, April 20 (AFP) - Supporters of Iran's reformist President Mohammad
Khatami came under increasingly heavy attack Thursday as political tensions
mounted in the country. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flayed pro-reform
newspapers and a hardline court summoned Khatami aides for questioning,
accusing them of making anti-Islamic statements at a recent conference
in Berlin >>>
FULL TEXT
April 19
Khazali urges reformers' deaths
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A hard-line cleric urged his followers to kill pro-reform
writers and activists whom he says are undermining Iran's revolutionary
principles, a newspaper reported today. ``It is an obligation to launch
jihad (holy war) once every year, just as it is an obligation to fast one
month a year. If the enemy does not attack you, you should attack them,''
said Khazali, a former member of the hard-line Guardians Council and a
senior cleric at the holy city of Qom >>>
FULL TEXT
Internet to be freed up in Iran
TEHRAN, April 19 (AFP) - Iran is preparing to open up access to the
Internet to everyone in the country, Iranian state radio reported Wednesday.
"Steps have been taken so that the entire population can use Internet
services around the country," the radio quoted a telecommunications
ministry official as saying >>>
FULL TEXT
April 18
* Iran Claims Confession of Suspect
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The main suspect in the attempted assassination
of a leading Iranian reformist has confessed to his crime, the Islamic
Republic News Agency reported Tuesday. ``I talked to the accused myself
and he explicitly confessed to having committed the crime and said he would
repeat his confession in court,'' the agency quoted deputy head of the
judiciary, Hadi Marvi, as saying >>>
FULL TEXT
April 17
Iran approves new measures to rein in press
TEHRAN, April 17 (Reuters) - Iran's conservative outgoing parliament
passed new measures on Monday to rein in the liberal press, whose influence
is increasing in the Islamic country. The new measures, part of a series
of amendments to the press law, came as Iran's electoral watchdog nullified
parliamentary poll results in several regions, drawing criticism from reformers
>>>
FULL TEXT
Revolutionary guards threaten reformers
TEHRAN, Iran An elite military wing in Iran warned pro-reform
leaders and writers Sunday that any attempt to undermine the country's
Islamic ideology would be met with "Islamic violence." The strongly
worded statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps conforms to
an increasingly strident tone taken by hard-liners against reformists who
swept parliamentary elections in February >>>
FULL TEXT >>> FULL
TEXT IN PERSIAN
Hardline revolutionary courts chief replaced
TEHRAN, April 17 (Reuters) - Iran's judiciary chief Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi
has removed a renowned hardliner from the head of the country's feared
Revolutionary Courts, the official IRNA news agency said on Monday. Ali
Mobasheri, a former judge at Tehran's Court of Appeals, has been named
the new chief judge of the Revolutionary Courts, the agency said >>>
FULL TEXT
April 14
Khamenei defends "legal violence" to maintain order
TEHRAN, April 14 (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
on Friday defended "legal violence" to keep order in the Islamic
republic after riots erupted following the reversal of election results.
>>>
FULL TEXT
April 12
Losers haven't learned their lesson
April 12, 2000 (Asr-e Azadegan) -- Political columnist
Massound Behnoud looks at the history of imprisoning writers and journalists
in Iran and points out the significance of the latest one: the imprisonment
of Asr-e Azadegan's editor, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin >>>
FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Journalists demonstrate in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Apr. 12 -- Journalists protested Wednesday against
the jailing of a leading liberal newspaper's editor-in-chief on charges
of insulting Islam, while some 400 people demonstrated against the annulment
of reformists' election victories in their towns by a hard-line body >>>
FULL TEXT
April 11
Parliament passes tough press measures
TEHRAN, April 11 (AFP) - Iran's outgoing conservative parliament on
Tuesday approved parts of a tough new press law whose first reading last
year helped spark student protests that erupted into six days of bloody
riots. The parliament, which will step down in a few weeks to make way
for a reform-dominated legislature that won in February's elections, is
to debate the remaining points in the bill on Wednesday >>>
FULL TEXT
April 10
Shamsolvaezin jailed
TEHRAN, April 10 (Reuters) - An Iranian editor who challenged the Islamic
law of retribution was jailed on Monday after losing an appeal against
a 30-month sentence imposed for criticising capital punishment. Mashallah
Shamsolvaezin, a leading reformist, was jailed for offending religious
values after the appeal court upheld the sentence imposed by a hardline
press court, his colleagues at Asr-e Azadegan newspaper told Reuters >>> FULL
TEXT
April 9
Iran state news chief hauled into court
TEHRAN, April 9 (AFP) - The head of Iran's state IRNA news agency, hauled
into court Sunday to answer a battery of complaints, said that a more free
and open Iran would only come at a "heavy price." Fereydoun Verdinejad,
summoned in his capacity as head of the governmental daily Iran, was appearing
to answer complaints from a variety of sources, including the volunteer
Basiji Islamic militia >>>
FULL TEXT
April 8
Mohtashemi summoned to court
TEHRAN, April 8 (AFP) - A close ally of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
who has used his newspaper to launch harsh criticisms of conservatives
in the regime has been summoned to appear in court, his paper said Saturday.
Ali Akbar Mohtashemi has been ordered to appear before the Special Court
of Clergy on April 23 following complaints filed by a cleric in the western
city of Hamedan, the Bayan paper said without giving further details >>> FULL
TEXT
April 6
Khatami urged to settle Iran police-judiciary row
TEHRAN, April 6 (Reuters) - The head of Iran's secret police urged President
Mohammad Khatami to intervene to settle a row with the judiciary over the
custody of suspects held for shooting a top reformer. Intelligence Minister
Ali Yunesi accused the judiciary of cutting short a high-profile inquiry
by his services into last month's murder attempt against Saeed Hajjarian,
a close ally of Khatami, by demanding custody of the suspects >>> FULL TEXT
April 5
Khatami's brother charged with libel
TEHRAN, April 5 (AFP) - Iranian reformist leader Mohammad-Reza Khatami,
brother of President Mohammad Khatami, was formally charged with libel
Wednesday in his capacity as head of the daily Mosharekat. Press court
judge Said Mortazavi bailed him in the sum of 50 million rials (16,666
dollars at the official rate of exchange) pending trial, after four hours
of questioning >>>
FULL TEXT
Hajjarian attack suspects handed over to courts
TEHRAN, April 5 (AFP) - The man accused of accused of shooting Iranian
reformist leader Said Hajarian and nine alleged accomplices have been handed
over to the courts ahead of their trial later this month, state radio reported
Tuesday. The trial of Said Asqar and the nine will take place before the
end of the first month of the Iranian year -- April 20 -- spokesman Hussein
Mir Mohammad Sadeghi said Monday, describing the suspects as "terrorists."
>>>
FULL TEXT
Hajjarian's party criticises rush trial of accused
TEHRAN, April 5 (AFP) - The party of shot Iranain reformist Said Hajarian
claimed Wednesday that the trial of his alleged attackers was being rushed
through to cover up those who were really guilty. The Islamic Iran Participation
Front (IIPF) said in a statement that Tuesday's handing over of the case
to the hardline revolutionary courts was premature >>>
FULL TEXT
Iran frees up ownership of videos
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's Supreme Court has ruled it is no longer a
crime to possess videos or music cassettes that ``corrupt public ethics''
if they are for personal use, a further sign of expanding social freedoms
in the Islamic nation. ``Possession of immodest pictures, video films,
cassette tapes and the like is not considered an offense unless it is used
to promote corruption and prostitution,'' Ahmad Darzi, a court official,
said today. ``If it is for commercial or distribution purposes, then legal
action will be taken.'' >>>
FULL TEXT
April 3
Judge suing journalist for book on slayings of intellectuals
TEHRAN, April 3 (AFP) - An Iranian religious court judge is suing a
pro-reform author who wrote that the judge was involved in a series of
murders of intellectuals and opposition figures in 1998, the Ham Mihan
newspaper said Monday. Author Hamid Reza Kaviani, who is also deputy editor
of the pro-reform newspaper Asr-e-ma, was summoned to appear in court June
28 for his investigative book on the killings, Ham Mihan said >>> FULL TEXT
Press publish photos of Hajarian attack suspect
TEHRAN, April 3 (AFP) - The Iranian press published photos Monday of
the man suspected of shooting reformist leader Said Hajarian on March 12,
and of his six alleged accomplices. The men, who appear to be between 20
and 30 years old, are accused of attempted assassination by a "terrorist
group", the press said, with Said Asfqar alleged to be the gunman
who shot Hajarian >>>
FULL TEXT
April 2
Iran state media sues president's brother
TEHRAN, April 2 (AFP) - Iran's conservative-run state media are among
the plaintiffs who have filed suit againt Mohammad-Reza Khatami, the brother
of the president and a top pro-reform politician, his lawyer said Sunday.
Khatami -- who led reformists to a sweeping victory in February's parliamentary
elections, ending the longstanding conservative majority in the legislature
-- was summoned Thursday to appear in press court on libel and defamation
charges >>>
FULL TEXT