Authorities in Iran have imposed a six-month ban on a newspaper linked to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country’s president, as tensions rise in the run-up to next week’s presidential election. The prohibition on Iran, a state-owned newspaper under the administration of Mr Ahmadinejad’s government, was imposed for “false reporting”, according to local news agencies, although they did not elaborate. The ban is the latest sign of Mr Ahmadinejad’s increasing marginalisation within Iran’s theocratic system.
While the president is constitutionally barred from seeking a third successive term, his close ally and chief-of-staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, was excluded from the June 14 poll by the powerful guardian’s council, prompting angry criticism from Mr Ahmadinejad.
The newspaper ban coincided with the reported arrests of seven campaign workers for Hassan Rowhani, a reformist who is one of eight candidates cleared to run in the election.
The arrests happened after Mr Rowhani’s followers chanted slogans in support of the detained former presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, at a rally in the north Tehran suburb of Jamaran on Saturday, Kalemeh, an opposition website, reported.
Full Article: Paper banned amid Iran election tensions – Telegraph.