Tehran (dpa) – The revolutionary court in Tehran on Sunday sentenced the chief of Iran's official news agency IRNA to a one-year jail term. The Mashregh news website reported that the main charge against Ali-Akbar Javanfekr was insulting Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The report did not provide further details. Javanfekr, a close aide of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was also banned from any political and journalistic activity for five years. Javanfekr's lawyer, Ghahreman Shojaei, confirmed the Mashregh news report, and said that “raising such a charge for someone who considers himself as soldier of the leadership is highly questionable.” According to the constitution, Ayatollah Khamenei is the head of state and has the final say on all state affairs. Insulting the leader is, therefore, regarded as not only an offence against his person but also undermining the ruling Islamic system in Iran. Shojaei gave no further details on the charges, but told IRNA that he would appeal the verdict within the legal time period of 20 days. The charges highlight the growing tensions between the conservative clergy and Ahmadinejad's circle ahead of the March 2 parliamentary elections. The pro-Ahmadinejad faction is branded by conservatives and clergy as a “deviant current” because of its alleged efforts to adopt a nationalistic – rather than an Islamic – approach to running the country. Javanfekr had in the recent years turned IRNA into a mouthpiece for the president and his faction. Some observers believe that the jail term for Javanfekr was also because of his interview with the opposition daily Etemad, in which he had acknowledged the deviation of the pro-Ahmadinejad circle from the policies of the conservatives and clergy. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/ixiMd Section: Iran, Latest News, Media
