Iranian authorities shut down lifestyle magazines

Nine Iranian magazines have been closed down by the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Culture for publishing photos of “immoral and corrupt” Western celebrities and promoting “superstitions,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on March 19.

Thirteen others were warned against publishing similar stories and threatened with losing their licenses.

According to the article, all but one of the magazines closed down avoided political or social issues, focusing on lifestyle, celebrities, cinema and family issues.

But Mashaollah Shamsolvaezin, spokesman for Iran’s Association for Press Freedom, said that although the publications do not cover politics, their closures were politically motivated.

“The government of [President Mahmud] Ahmadinejad interferes with everything; it doesn’t have to be only politics,” Shamsolvaezin says. “The authorities want literary and cultural publications to follow the government’s line. These publication were closed down because they did not follow the Ministry of Culture’s policies.”

The closures are part of a wider crackdown on independent journalism in Iran.

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