Iran reformer to appeal sentence

The jailed Iranian reformist, Abdullah Nouri, is to be allowed to appeal against his five-year prison sentence.

Mr Nouri's lawyer, Mohsen Rahami, said Iran's Special Clerical Court, would finalise the appeal within the next few days.

He said he was optimistic that the sentence would be reconsidered.

Abdullah Nouri, a journalist and former interior minister, was jailed by the court for five years in November 1998 on charges which included spreading anti-Islamic propaganda and threatening national security. A previous appeal request in January was rejected by Iran's state prosecutor.

Mr Nouri's supporters said the rejection was an attempt to prevent him standing in February's parliamentary elections.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service