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Tehran (dpa) - The Iranian reformist daily Rouzegar was closed down Monday only one week after its first publication, ISNA news agency reported.
Rouzegar (Time), which hit the newsstands last Monday, was reportedly closed down by the Press Supervisory Board due to its links with the banned reformist daily Sharq (East).
A judiciary spokesman told ISNA that according to paragraph 33 of the press law, a new daily could not simply replace a banned daily.
ISNA however quoted law experts as saying that paragraph 33 could not be implemented in this case, as Rouzegar was not a substitute for Sharq.
Sharq has been the main press organ of reformists in Iran who after the victory of the conservatives in the 2004 parliamentary and 2005 presidential elections, have no presence any more in the Iranian political scene.
The Press Supervisory Board had ordered Sharq's closure last September after the daily published articles which allegedly insulted religious, political and national figures and fomented discord.
Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham had already indicated a new move by the government to limit local press sources critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies.
Elham said the press should clarify the line between criticism and accusation and warned that those dailies distributing ambiguous reports in the press would have to face the judiciary.
Ahmadinejad himself had also blamed some newspapers for having falsely exposed the total failure of his economic reforms.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
