Bahar (Persian: بهار, lit.'The Spring') is a reformist newspaper published in Tehran, Iran. It has been in circulation since 2000 and has been subject to bans.

Bahar
TypeDaily newspaper
Managing editorSaeed Pourazizi
Founded1 May 2000; 24 years ago (2000-05-01)
Political alignmentReformist
LanguagePersian
HeadquartersTehran
CountryIran
WebsiteBahar

History and profile

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Bahar was established in May 2000.[1] The managing editor of the paper was Saeed Pourazizi who served as director general of the Presidential Media Office when Mohammad Khatami was in office.[2]

Bahar has been banned for several times. It was banned on 9 August 2000.[2] Following ten-year ban it was relaunched in January 2010.[2] However, it was again closed down by the Press Supervisory Board on 19 April 2010 for "publishing items contrary to reality" and "creating doubt regarding major issues such as the elections."[2][3] It was later republished.[4] However, in October 2013 it was again closed down by Iran's state press watchdog due to the publication of an article which was regarded as undermining Islamic principles.[5][6] The article which was written by religious–nationalist activist Asghar Gharavi also questioned the legitimacy of the supreme leader.[7][8] It was the first publication banned in the country following the presidency of Hassan Rouhani.[5]

One of the contributors of Bahar is Masoumeh Ebtekar, and in one of her 2013 articles she argued that Iranian women have necessary religious and political qualifications which make them eligible to run for the presidency.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Another Iranian paper closed". BBC. 16 May 2000. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bahar". Iran Media Program. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Iran: Another reformist newspaper banned". Payvand. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. ^ Golnaz Esfandiari (30 January 2013). "Iran's Reformist Newspapers Protest Against Arrests of Journalists". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  5. ^ a b Golnaz Esfandiari (29 October 2013). "Iranian Reformist Daily Becomes First Publication Banned Under Rohani". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Iran bans reformist newspaper Bahar". Your Middle East. AFP. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Iran's closure of reformist newspaper raises concerns about press freedom". The Guardian. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  8. ^ Arash Karami (15 March 2014). "Iran's Fourth Estate". Asharq Al Awsat. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  9. ^ Mona Tajali (2023). "Women and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran: The Role of Women's Magazines". In Loubna H. Skalli; Nahed Eltantawy (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Media and Communication in the Middle East and North Africa. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 210. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11980-4_12. ISBN 978-3-031-11980-4.
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