'Censorship intensifying ahead of Iran's June election'

GVF — Censorship is intensifying in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the run-up to the presidential election on 14 June, says Reporters Without Borders.

The Paris-based media watchdog condemned the continuing harassment of news outlets and escalation in censorship in the country.

Opposition website Kaleme recently reported that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence had summoned the managing editors of the country’s nationwide publications to inform them of the “red lines” of election coverage. During the meeting, the editors were briefed by an Intelligence Ministry deputy who warned that any form of “accentuating the negative” in the run-up to the presidential race would be “dealt with” severely. The official reportedly said that the “red lines” were based on positions endorsed by Khamenei.

“With just six weeks to go to a presidential election, the intelligence ministry has been summoning netizens and media editors to give them instructions on what they may and may not cover,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The regime wants to use the June presidential election to bolster the Supreme Leader’s authority, which has been publicly questioned by millions of Iranians since Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection in the June 2009 presidential election,” Reporters Without Borders said. “But without a free press and with 52 journalists and netizens currently detained, one cannot talk of a free election. This election should be an opportunity for Iran to end the crisis that has paralyzed it, but the Supreme Leader and Revolutionary Guards are just making things worse by preventing Iranians from making a free and informed choice.”

The organisation also reported on the ongoing persecution of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish current of Sufism and a website that promotes their rights.