Iran: Media Bans Imposed After Election

Iran has launched a fresh offensive on the media after the country’s election in which the conservatives strengthened their hold on the parliament at the expense of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Since the weekend election, nine magazines have been closed under orders from the judiciary, while another 13 have received a written warning.

The government targeted seven magazines that focus on cinema and theatre and two monthlies that publish in Iranian Kurdistan.

The magazines have been accused of being messengers of cultural corruption after publishing photos and interviews with western actors and actresses.

The two Kurdish magazines, Shoka and Hawar, are accused by the courts of “promoting ethnic hatred”.

Conservative candidates, many of whom are critical of Ahmadinejad, did well in the parliamentary elections, particularly in the capital, Tehran.

Reformists, who recorded a small increase in representation despite official rejection of many of their candidates, claimed the election was unfair.

It was the country’s eighth parliamentary elections since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Many reform candidates were banned by the country’s Guardian Council, an unelected body of clerics.

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