Khatami criticises press clampdown

Nearly all the pro-reform press has been shut down

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has criticised the closure of more than 20, mostly reformist, newspapers and magazines by the conservative dominated judiciary.

In a television interview - his first in more than two years - Mr Khatami said he did not agree with the methods used by the courts over the past few months to close the papers.

I do not think this kind of attitude [to the press] is good, or that it makes the system stronger. It only creates the illusion that the system is weak and fearful

President Khatami

Mr Khatami's pro-reform allies won a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections in February, and now dominate the parliament.

The conservatives, who dominate the courts and the security services, strongly oppose the agenda of the reformists.

Reformist setbacks

In the first part of an extended interview with Iranian television, which is still a bastion of conservatism, Mr Khatami said that the closure of newspapers calling for reforms gave a bad impression of Iran.

"The situation is not satisfactory. I agree we have to deal with violations of the law, but I do not think it is good to have a wholesale attitude toward the press. I do not think this kind of attitude is good, or that it makes the system stronger. It only creates the illusion that the system is weak and fearful," the president said.

President Khatami was under pressure to act

BBC Tehran correspondent Jim Muir says the reformist camp, which looks to President Khatami for guidance, has suffered some serious setbacks in recent weeks.

Most serious of all was the intervention by the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Khameni who ordered the reformist dominated parliament to stop discussing amendments to the press law.

The reformists are determined to reverse the summary closure of the pro-reform publications and the arrest of numerous prominent journalists, and have put President Khatami under mounting pressure to react.

Our correspondent says he has done so with characteristic mildness.

Political scandals

Mr Khatami was also critical of the handling by the judiciary of two continuing political scandals.

Recent pro-reform demonstrations have led to clashes with the security services

Investigations into the serial murders of dissident writers and intellectuals two years ago, and the police raid on a student dormitory last year which triggered several days of street riots, are still ongoing.

"I hope they the judiciary will take the same speedy approach to these that they do with other issues. This double standard - I do not want to accuse anyone - is causing problems for society," Mr Khatami said.

Limited powers

Under the constitution, Mr Khatami said, the president has no right to interfere directly outside his own sphere of competence.

All he could do he said was to draw attention to breaches of the constitution or to resign, something he had no intention of doing.

Mr Khatami has already signalled that he intends to stand again for the presidency in next year's elections.