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Copyright © 1994-98, by the Middle East Data Project, Inc. All rights reserved.
Despite President Khatami's public support for a liberalized press in Iran, the authorities in recent weeks have cracked down on publications critical of the regime, and have even brought the daughter of former President Rafsanjani before a press court.
The crackdown began with the closure of the daily Tous, a revived version of the pro-Khatami Jameh, following a speech by Ayatollah Khamene'i on Sept. 15 to Pasdaran commanders, in which he accused liberal publications of sponsoring "a creeping Western cultural onslaught," and accused them of "targeting the people's faith in Islam and revolution."
A few days later, the law enforcement force closed down the weeklies Rah-e Now (New Path) and Tavana, and the monthly Iran-e Farda (Iran Tomorrow), which had been publishing a lengthy series on U.S.-Iran relations remarkable for the absence of rhetoric and anti-U.S. propaganda.
Press closures have been ordered frequently, especially in recent years. But these closures were accompanied by the arrest of prominent publishers, editorials, and reporters, including four members of the Tous board.
In a move which took many commentators off guard, the Judiciary also arrested two top editors at the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Sept. 22, releasing them on bail the next day. They were accused of having approved a report appearing in IRNA's confidential daily bulletin prepared for government officials revealing that the assassination attempt against Mohsen Rafiq-doust was carried out by a disgruntled employee of the Bonyad-e Mostazafan, and not by the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq. Rafiq-doust has headed the Bonyad since 1989, when he was removed as commander of the Revolutionary Guards, and has transformed the foundation into Iran's premier industrial conglomerate - and, his critics allege, into a slush fund for himself and top regime officials, starting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i. A Parliamentary investigation suppressed last year revealed that the Bonyad was a cash cow used to fund Iran's WMD programs, the regime's overseas terrorist operations, as well as dubious overseas enterprises apparently operating on behalf of regime officials.
One of the closed weeklies, Rah-e Now, recently published an article written by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri advocating that the Supreme Leader only supervise state affairs and not hold decision-making authority, according to the International Iran Times.
Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former President Rafsanjani, was hauled before a press court on Sept. 28 on libel charges. General Mohammad Naqdi, commander of the police intelligence branch, was suing her for an article in her weekly Zan implicating him in attacks last month on Culture Minister Mohajerani and Deputy President Abdallah Nuri, believed to have been carried out by Ansar-e Hezbollah thugs. Zan alleged that Naqdi was sighted at the scene of the attacks, according to an account in the International Iran Times.
After he was attacked, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohajerani dropped his previous support of the controversial publications. "Eventually I myself concluded that Tous was part of some political movement" aimed at undermining the regime," he said. "My impression was that the management wanted to revive certain personalities," specifically, former President Abdolhassan Bani Sadr. The paper first got into trouble over the summer for having printed a page one photo of a Tehran alley, in which a faint picture of the former President appeared on a wall between two older people.