Iran's judiciary orders arrest of leading reformist daily director

Jul 1, 2008, 18:28 GMT

Tehran - The Iranian judiciary has ordered the arrest of the director of the leading reformist daily Etemad Melli (National Trust), the ISNA news agency reported Tuesday.

A judiciary spokesman told ISNA that the arrest order for Mohammad-Javad Haqshenas was issued for a probe into an allegedly insulting article on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The article, had been written by reformist cleric Rassoul Montajabnia, published on his website and also by Etemad Melli.

In it, he criticized Ahmadinejad for his claim that he and his government were supported and managed by the 12th Shiite Imam Mahdi, who, according to Shiite believe, will return after 1,000 years to save the world and implement justice.

Montajabnia argued that such claims could not help Ahmadinejad cover the failure of his policies and Iran's huge inflation level.

Etemad Melli is affiliated to the reformist Etemad Melli party led by former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi who is due to run against Ahmadinejad in next year's presidential elections.

The newspaper has not been banned yet but Fars news agency reported that the government press watchdog will convene an emergency meeting on the issue.

Ahmadinejad was tolerant of critics in his first three years in office but over the last year, he and his press advisors have reacted quite sensitively and on several occasions lashed out at local media.

According to the Iranian Reporter Association (IRA), almost 100 publications have been banned, with more than 2,500 reporters losing their jobs as a result.

Reformist dailies in Iran are usually closed under the pretext of insulting religious and political figures and fomenting public discord. But there have also been closures for non-political reasons.

In March, Iranian cultural authorities, for example, closed down nine magazines for reporting on the private lives of 'immoral' Western celebrities.