An Iranian judge ordered a ban on the daily newspaper Kayhan, which is a fierce supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the news agency ILNA reported Thursday, according to dpa. The ban came after the daily's hardline chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, failed to appear twice before a court that was supposed to deal with Kayhan's claims that one of the aides of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi had ties with the CIA. The judge's ban, however, must be approved by the Tehran prosecutor general's office. Kayhan is one of the oldest newspapers in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution, its chief has been appointed by Iran's supreme leader. Shariatmadari has turned Kayhan into the leading media outlet supporting the Islamic hardline. Shariatmadari's editorials, especially against the country's reformists and recently against Moussavi, have always been controversial and led to legal procedures against him.
