Report: Iran Presidential Adviser Sentenced

Published February 13, 2012 1:45PM (EST)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's press adviser has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Monday's report by the semiofficial Mehr news agency provided no further details, but Ali Akbar Javanfekr had been previously convicted of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The case appears to be part of an ongoing power struggle between Ahmadinejad's backers and Khamenei loyalists.

Last year, Javanfekr received a separate one-year sentence for writing that the practice of women wearing head-to-toe black coverings was not originally an Iranian practice, but was imported. This was considered offensive by hardline Iranian clerics.

There have been no reports that Javanfekr has begun to serve either sentence.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's former press adviser has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Monday's report by the semiofficial Mehr news agency provided no further details, but Ali Akbar Javanfekr had been previously convicted of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The case appears to be part of an ongoing power struggle between Ahmadinejad's backers and Khamenei loyalists.

Last year, Javanfekr received a separate one-year sentence for writing that the practice of women wearing head-to-toe black coverings was not originally an Iranian practice, but was imported. This was considered offensive by hardline Iranian clerics.


By Salon Staff

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