Interesting catch from Tehran Bureau: Iran's media court has suspended Kayhan, the hard-line newspaper. Its editor faces a lawsuit from Ali-Reza Beheshti, a representative for Mousavi. As Tehran Bureau explains:
Ali-Reza Beheshti filed the suit after Kayhan published a report suggesting that Mousavi and his supporters had silenced lawmaker Seyyed Hassan Ayat before he could make public his report on the former prime minister.
A lawmaker claimed that Mousavi had Ayat assassinated before he could submit the report to the Iranian parliament.
Hossein Shariatmadari, the paper's editor, didn't show up for a hearing on the suit, so the court ordered the paper closed.
But the suspension has to be approved by Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's prosecutor-general and a staunch conservative. Mortazavi doesn't have a problem shutting down newspapers: He closed more than 60 pro-reform papers during his time as a judge.
The question is whether he'll apply the same standards to Kayhan, a regime mouthpiece whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Khamenei. If he doesn't, he hands a small victory to the reformists, who will argue that the regime is applying a double standard.
If he does uphold the sentence, of course, he's shutting down the regime's favorite newspaper.
Also, I don't speak a word of Farsi, but you don't really need to in order to understand this cartoon about the Larijani brothers (also from Tehran Bureau).
Pretty sure it depicts Mohammad Javad, Sadeq, and Ali Larijani (from left to right).
For updates throughout the day, follow us on 
Twitter, 
Facebook or 
RSS!
Categories: Iran, Iranian Elections (2009), Life and Culture, Media, Politics, Regional News
Tags: Ali-Reza Beheshti, Hossein Shariatmadari, Kayhan, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Saeed Mortazavi
No Comments
Post a Comment