Iran rejects reports of banning Karroubi's reformist daily: Press TV

TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian authorities on Monday rejected reports that the newspaper of leading reformist Mehdi Karroubi had been banned, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported.

"Etemad-e Melli has not been shut down," Tehran's Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi was quoted as saying, referring to the reformist newspaper owned by the defeated presidential candidate.

The newspaper "was not distributed on Monday following problems in its printing-office," he added.

Etemad-e Melli's news website, Saham News, said earlier that the daily had been shut down temporarily by Tehran prosecutor Sunday night.

It quoted Karroubi's son Hossein as saying that the order was submitted to the paper by a representative from Tehran's Prosecutor General Office, who came to the daily's publishing house Sunday evening.

Press TV said that the daily was closed because it planned to publish a letter by Karroubi who would give a response to the recent insult against him.

Karroubi angered many conservative hardliners after he claimed that some protestors detained in the post-election unrests, both men and women, had been raped.

The Iranian authorities said no cases of rape or sexual abuse had been found and Karroubi's allegations were "baseless" and "sheer lies."

Protests gripped Tehran and other Iranian cities after the June12 presidential election, amid claims that the vote had been rigged in favor of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran's state media said about 30 people had been killed in relevant clashes, including some in custody.

Iran's judiciary said that 4,000 people were initially arrested by security forces during the unrests after the disputed presidential election and 3,700 were released later.