TEHERAN - IranÂ’s hardline judiciary has allowed the reformist economic daily Asia to resume publication, the third banned moderate title allowed back within a week, media reported on Wednesday. The paperÂ’s director Iraj Jamshidi said that the paper -- banned in January last year for publishing a photograph of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with bare arms -- would be back after the Iranian New Year holidays in March.| Well. Hubba. Hubba. |
The succession of permissions for the moderate dailies to republish appears to indicate a growing flexibility from the judiciary towards the press, which has stepped up criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent months.
IranÂ’s press flourished in the early years of the rule of reformist president Mohammad Khatami although it was then hit by a string of closures. The stringent regulation has continued under Ahmadinejad, although, even without Shargh, the press still has a diverse range of titles including the unashamedly reformist Etemad Melli and Ayandeh-No.
Closures have also hit conservative titles over the past year, with the ultra-conservative Siasat Ruz and the government newspaper Iran both serving temporary suspensions for insulting IranÂ’s ethnic and religious minorities.
| They banned the government newspaper? |