TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian authorities banned five Web sites that comment on current events for "poisoning" public opinion ahead of the crucial mid-March parliamentary elections, the state radio reported on Thursday.To read more, click here.
The move is the latest in an election period which has seen the Interior Ministry, run by hard-liners close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, disqualify more than 2,000 prospective candidates — most of them reformers.
About 280 of those candidates were reinstated Tuesday by the Guardian Council, Iran's hard-line constitutional watchdog. But reformists have complained the reversal was insufficient to ensure a fair election.
In the past, the authorities have occasionally closed down some of the hundreds of private Web sites that comment on Iranian news and politics. But this was the first time they closed down five at once — a reflection of growing tension ahead of the vote.
Iranian leaders are trying to minimize propaganda during the elections. Traditional Iranian leaders do not want reformists to expose their plans for Iran, and the reformists feel that the shutting down of the web sites fails "to ensure a fair election."
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