Iran to launch religious radio station on Wednesday

An Iranian radio station concentrating on religious broadcasts is to go on air on Wednesday - the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Iran, Iranian TV reported on Tuesday.

Ali Larijani, head of the state broadcaster Voice and Vision Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, announced that the station would start broadcasting after a ceremony attended by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"All Islamic and Koranic subjects, such as teaching the Koran's meaning, interpretation, recitation and also Koranic news and stories will be covered by this station," Larijani said.

The television said the station, which begins broadcasting at 1130 gmt tomorrow, will be heard in about 70 per cent of the country.

The radio will be on air round the clock.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.