In Iran, a prominent liberal journalist, Ezzatollah Sahabi has been banned from writing for a year.

The ruling came from a special court that deals with press matters, which found Mr Sahabi guilty of publishing slanderous articles about the military in a magazine, called Iran-e-Farda.

He was also fined one-thousand dollars.

Correspondents say the case against Mr Sahabi is another sign that Iran's liberal press is coming under increasing pressure from conservatives in the country's establishment.