Iranian women’s magazine shut down for ‘damaging society’

Iranian authorities have shut down a popular women’s magazine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Wednesday.

The magazine, “Zanan,” had previously avoided closure through its cautious avoidance of politics – focusing exclusively on women’s issues.

Iran’s Commission for Press Authorization and Surveillance revoked Zanan’s license on January 28, saying that the magazine offers “a somber picture of the Islamic republic” that “compromises its readers’ mental health” by “publishing morally questionable information.”

According to the article, Zanan’s closure was followed by a court summons for female journalist Jila Bani Yaghoub, who is being prosecuted for reporting from a women’s demonstration in March 2007.

The last two years have seen dozens of publications and journalists accused of acting against national security. Reza Moeni, of the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), says that there have been more than fifty cases since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.

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