Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: Aug 22,1979; Section: Front page; Page: 1
Iranians expel three journalists
From Reuter In Tehrart
Iran eMpelled three Western
corfl !pondents yesterda.V after
a call from the unofficial Head
of State, Ayatollah Khomein i,
to be more revolutionary. Two
of the journalists are British
— Mr Towyn Mason of the
BUC and Mr Andrew Whitley,.
of The Financial Times. His
assistant, Ms Elizabeth Hyarns ,
also said she had been told to
leave.
The third was a Frenchman 1
Mr Jerome flumoulin, of the
Paris magazine LExpress . who
received the expulsion order
less than 48 hours after arriv-
ing in Iran. All were
ordered to •depart as soon as
possible in Eeparate meetings
yesterday with Dr All Beb-
r.adnla. foreign press director
of the Ministry of National
Guidance.
Mr Mason was told that the
authorities objected to the
general tone of BBC broadcasts
about ham Mr Dumoulin was
critlcis for an Express
article about life after the
revoLution. Mr Wbitley, ‘who
had been in Iran for Iwo
years, was orderetheut without
explanation.
Dr Behzadnia said that the
expulsions were a revoltt-
tionary decision which over.
ruled any legislation already in
farce, a reference to restrictions
on the foreign press issued last
week
The authorities also
announced yesterday that they
intended to expel two West
German journalists who went
to cover evenis In Kurdistan
without obtaining Gb v . s . .. ..J.L
credentials.
The Tebran Islamic Revolu-
tionary Prosecutor, Ayatollah
Anti Qoini. announced yester-
day that 26 newspapers and
magailnes had been closed by
the authorities. The press
purge began at the weekend
after a fierce attack by Ayatol-
lah Khomeini on opposition
parties and newspapers. He
said that the government, Re-
volutionary Guards, arid army
had not been revolutionary
enough and :must start taking
revolutionary action.
Ayatollah Qomi was quoted
by State Radio yesterday as
saying that opposition groups
had abused the freedom the
February revolution gave them.
He described the boycott of
the recent Consititut.ional
Council elections by groups
such as the Fedayeen guer-
rillas and the centrist National
Democratic Front (NDF) as
shameless. He accused the
NDF of being responsible for
300 people injured in a rally
last week to protest against re-
strictions on the press.
In the latest move against
Left-wing political parties the
authorities sealed the offices of
the pro-Soviet Tudeh (Com-
munist) Party. The wherea-
bouts of its leadership were
unknown, yesterday. The move
followed the banning of two of
the party's newspapers by the
Islamic Revolutionary Prosecu-
tor.
In the Kurdish border town
of Paveb, th ..tne of bloody
lighting between rebels and Re-
volutionary Guards at the
weekend, an Islamic Court pre-
sided over by Ayatollah Sadeq
Kbalkhali sentenced 13 insur-
gents to death on charges of
waging war on God and his re-
presentatives. Five other rebels
were executed by . firing squad
in the nearby city of Kerman-
shah,
Sources in the Kurdish
stronghold of Mahaijud
ported clashes between Kur-
dish forces and RevQlutione ”
8 rds. Guerrillas of the
banned Kurdish Democratic
Party (XL ?) l 0 hed with Gov-
ernment forces using artillery
and tanks near the town of
Miandoab nor'th of Mahabad.
Skirmishes also took place in
other areas.
• In Stockholm a Foreign
Ministry spokesman said that
the ousted Shah of Iran has
asked the Swedish Go eement
for political asylum.
The request was made infor-
nially through private contacts
and will not be dealt with
until the Shalt sends a formal,
written application.
© Guardian News and Media Limited
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