Iran bans pro-reform business daily

          
          11/2/2009 Iran bans pro-reform business daily
          REUTERS
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          Iran bans pro-reform business daily
          Mon Nov 2, 2009 8:29am EST
          TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian media body banned on Monday the
          publication of a leading business daily, Sarmayeh, which is critical of the
          economic policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadi nejad's government.
          The official IRNA news agency said Iran's press supervisory body took the
          decision because of”repeated violations of the press law.” It did not give
          further details.
          “Based on a decision by the press supervisory board ... the authorization for
          the publication of Sarmayeh daily was annulled,” IRNA said.
          Sarmayeh editor Saeed Laylaz, an outspoken government critic, was
          arrested shortly after Iran's disputed election in June. The opposition says
          the vote was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.
          The authorities deny vote rigging, and have portrayed the huge street
          protests that erupted after the election as a foreign-backed bid to undermine
          the Islamic state.
          In August, authorities shut down Etemad-e Melli newspaper of pro-reform
          cleric Mehdi Karoubi, who came fourth in the poll. He had angered hardliners
          with his allegation that some detained opposition supporters were raped, a
          charge officials deny.
          The June poll and its turbulent aftermath plunged Iran into its biggest internal
          crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening divisions within
          its ruling elite and also further straining relations with the West.
          Iran arrested thousands of people after the vote, though most have since
          been freed. About 200 people remain in jail, including Laylaz, on charges of
          fomenting the post-vote unrest. The opposition has denounced their trials as
          “show trials.”
          (Writing by Fredrik DahI; editing by Matthew Jones)
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