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 TEHRAN
(Reuters) - The Iranian government on Monday ordered the closure of a daily
newspaper and banned a planned women's 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 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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