TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian hard-liners closed down 12 pro-democracy papers, leaving only five in print Monday in a media crackdown that appears part of a bigger plan to weaken reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
The crackdown was a blatant display of the immense power the hard-liners still hold, despite their crushing defeat in recent legislative elections. The hard-liners control key institutions like the judiciary, which handed down the publication ban late Sunday."The power struggle in Iran is entering dire straits," said Saeed Leylaz, an analyst and writer for several reformist newspapers. "The press has been the main instrument for Khatami to speak to the people, and if that is taken away from him, he is in serious trouble."
Khatami made no mention of the closures or the future of his liberal reforms during a speech Monday marking Armed Forces Day.
Eight major daily newspapers and four weekly or biweekly magazines were closed for "printing material against the lofty Islamic principles and commands," said a judiciary statement quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Only four reformist newspapers -- Akhbar-e-Eqtesad, Sobh-e-Emrouz, Mosharekat and Bayan -- escaped the ban. It was not clear why they were not included. Azad, which was banned, also was on sale Monday, because the daily already had gone to print before the ban. It is unlikely to appear Tuesday.
Newspaper vendors said they had to order extra copies of the popular Sobh-e-Emrouz daily because readers were snapping it up. The mood among Iranians heading to work was normal. There was no added security in the streets of the capital, Tehran.
Hard-liners had ordered religious schools around the country to close Monday to protest a recent conference in Berlin that was attended by reformist journalists.
Hard-liners were outraged after selected footage from the conference was aired last week on television, showing exiles criticizing Iran's religious government and a woman dancing in a skimpy outfit. In Iran, women must adhere to a strict Islamic dress code that requires them to cover their head and bodies in a loose robe.
The hard-liners want to roll back Khatami's social and political reforms to preserve their grip on power. They have ruled by decree since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Khatami has stressed that the people have the right to determine how they want to be governed.
The newspaper closures came three days after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the hard-line supreme leader whose powers supersede those of the elected president, said there were 10 to 15 reformist papers undermining Islamic and revolutionary principles, insulting constitutional bodies and creating tension and discord in society.
Hard-liners have increased efforts recently to limit press freedoms and crack down on a liberal media that has widely backed presidential reforms. Nearly every leading reformist journalist has been summoned for questioning by the judiciary.
On Sunday, police seized Latif Safari, director of the banned Neshat daily, and took him to Tehran's Evin prison. A day earlier, police detained Akbar Ganji, a top investigative reporter.
Earlier this month, the judiciary upheld the conviction of Mahmoud Shams, editor in chief of Asr-e-Azadegan, giving him a 21/2-year jail term on charges of "insulting religious sanctities."
In March, Saeed Hajjarian, another leading journalist, was shot in the face and gravely injured. Reformist newspapers and officials have blamed the attack on hard-liners.
Last week, the outgoing Parliament that is dominated by hard-liners tightened an existing press law, granting greater powers of prosecution against writers and publishers. The changes have to be endorsed by the hard-line Guardian Council, but that is likely a formality.