TEHRAN - An Iranian court has banned clergyman Mohsen Saeidzadeh from wearing his clerical garb in an effort to silence his unorthodox views, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

"Saeidzadeh has been sentenced to defrocking on charges of disturbing public opinion through insulting the Islamic republic, meaning that he no more has the right to wear clerical costume," the daily Arya quoted the cleric's attorney as saying.

Saeidzadeh was arrested in August on unspecified charges and tried in a closed court in the absence of his attorney.
 

Iran Bans Editor, Reuters, December 7

TEHRAN - A court in Iran has banned a editor from heading any publication for one year amid increased pressures against the press, newspapers reported on Monday.

The ruling against Ezzatollah Sahabi came as Faezeh Hashemi, editor of the daily Zan and daughter of Rafsanjani, appeared in court to face charges of "publishing lies."

The Tehran press court convicted Sahabi, editor of the monthly Iran-e Farda, of insulting the armed forces and "publishing lies" and also ordered him to pay a fine of six million rials ($2,000), the daily Iran reported.

Hashemi, a leading figure among pro-Khatami members of parliament, faces charges because of a report in her newspaper linking a senior police official to an attack on two top Khatami aides by hardline conservative militants in September.

Several newspapers and magazines have been closed in recent months amid calls by leading conservative clerics to curb press freedoms granted under Khatami.
 

Mullahs' Official Attempts to Divert Attentions, Reuters, December 7

TEHRAN - A senior Iranian official accused the local press of sensationalizing the recent killings of dissidents and causing unwarranted fears about security, Iran's media reported on Monday.

The remarks by Gholamhossein Bolandian, deputy interior minister in charge of security affairs, came after newspapers complained of lack of security in the wake of the slaying last month of Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh.

Bolandian said the couple's stabbing at their Tehran home was "a move to create crisis...and help political exploitation by opponents and serve the propaganda of foreign radios and so-called human rights groups," state television reported.

Bolandian reiterated official reports that Majid Sharif, a former exiled dissident who returned to Iran a few years ago, had died of a heart attack. Dissidents have said Majid's death was "suspicious."
 

Another Writer Disappears, Associated Press, December 7

TEHRAN - An Iranian writer left his home last week and has not been heard from since, adding to a recent spate of mysterious disappearances, a Tehran newspaper reported Monday.

Mohammed Mokhtari, a poet and member of the Association of Iranian writers, left to go shopping Thursday in the residential suburb in northern Tehran, the Zan newspaper said. It said Mokhtari's family searched hospitals, morgues and police stations but could not find him.

Increasingly, hard-line rivals of President Mohammad Khatami are resorting to violence to deal with opponents.

None of the incidents has resulted in arrests, leading to suspicions the assailants are backed by powerful hard-line clerics like spiritual leader Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the head of the judiciary.
 

Iranian Detained in Argentina Over 1992 Bombing, Reuters, December 5

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine police have arrested an Iranian woman in connection with the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, which killed 29 people, the woman's lawyers said on Saturday.

Nahrim Mokhtari was detained at Ezeiza international airport near Buenos Aires on Friday and interrogated by a judge later the same day.

Authorities believe the woman was linked to Middle Eastern guerrilla groups and told a former lover of plans to carry out the bombing before it happened.

Argentine authorities and Israel have long suspected Iranian-backed extremists of being behind both bombings.

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