In two separate letters from the ministry, the editors of Kargozaran and Etemaad dailies were ordered not to publish news of executions since they have adverse international effects.
Also, journalists insisting on covering the news should be laid off. In past few weeks, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) contacted editorials across the country ordering them to fire reporters eager to cover executions.
Kargozaran, Etemaad, Etemaad-Meli and Sarmaeh dailies as well as Shahrvand weekly are on top of the list of newspapers and weeklies warned so far.
Names of suspected columnists, news editors, and reporters of various dailies and publications appeared on the MOIS's black list.
MOIS has demanded that all the firings end before the presidential elections next June. The editors were strictly ordered not to mention anything about MOIS pressure to fire the malignant reporters.