Iran Bans Chief Editor Of Critical Newspaper From Working For A Year

Iranian journalist Behrooz Behzadi (file photo)

The Iranian judiciary has banned the editor in chief of a newspaper critical of the government from working for a year, according to a report in the Etemad newspaper on July 29. A court in Tehran imposed the sentence on Behrooz Behzadi due to articles published in Etemad during a wave of protests, which began in the autumn of 2022 and were triggered by the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly breaking the country's strict Islamic dress code. The protests raged for months against Iran's religious and political leadership, proving a severe test for the country's authorities.