NCRI – The Iranian regime’s Culture Ministry announced the closure of nine cinema and lifestyle magazines and sent official warnings to 13 other publications, state-run news agency ISNA reported on Sunday.
There was a variety of reasons stated for the shut downs and warning citations ranging from, “national security matters” to “using photos of artists, especially foreign film stars” and “promoting superstitions.", the report added.
It was not clear why the nine magazines were targeted. The publications did not deal with politics, focusing on light lifestyle features, family advice, and news of celebrities.
An editor of a banned magazine referring to the closure order said that it was dated March 10. He suspected authorities waited to implement the order until after Friday's elections.
“The measures are aimed at undermining the cultural activities in the country,” said another editor. “We are apolitical,” he added.
“We did not receive any prior warnings. The closure order came to us like as a shock,” said another.
The mullahs’ judiciary has shut down more than 100 newspapers and jailed a number of editors and writers on charges of national security matters since 1997.
