A new daily newspaper has appeared on the news-stands in Iran, as the number of publications multiply following greater press freedom under the new moderate government of President Khatami. The paper, Farda, (meaning Tomorrow) is published by Ahmad Tavakoli, a former labour minister and a conservative economist. The supporters of the dissident Islamic thinker, Abdulkarim Soroush, are also planing to publish their own daily newspaper next week. The BBC's Iranian affairs reporter, Sadeq Saba reports:

In the absence of political parties in Iran newspapers play an important role in the political life of the country. Almost all the daily papers belong to a political faction or to a government organisation.

But Mr Tavakoli, who has recently received a doctorate in economics from Cambridge University, says his newspaper will be independent. His opponents, however, dismiss the claim and say the paper belongs to the conservatives who are planning to increase their criticism of President Khatami's reformist policies.

But the supporters of Mr Khatami are also increasing their own publications. A few months ago, Iranianauthorities allowed the country's first women's daily newspaper to be published by Faeze Hashemi, a moderate member of the Iranian parliament.

The government has also given permission to many other groups or individuals to publish papers, bringing the number of newspapers and periodicals published in Iran to about one-thousand. Groups opposed to the government still complain that their requests to publish newspapers are routinely rejected.

But it's generally agreed that the climate in Iran is changing and President Khatami is trying to open up Iranian society.
 

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