Daily newspaper in Iran(1991–1999)
Salam (Persian: سلام, romanized: Salām, lit. 'Salute') was a Persian-language daily newspaper published in Tehran, Iran. It was named by Ahmad Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Khomeini.[1] It was highly influential in the country during its brief existence from 1991 to 1999 and was one of the early reformist dailies published following the Islamic revolution in Iran.[1]
History and profile
Salam was established by a group of reformist people attached to the Association of Combatant Clerics, and the first issue appeared on 9 February 1991.[1][2] The paper was based in Tehran[3] and became one of the most read dailies in the country soon after its launch.[2][4]
The publisher of Salam was Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha[5][6] who remained in the post until 1999 when it was disestablished.[7]
Content, political stance and editors
In addition to quality editorials, Salam provided investigative articles about financial scandals.[2] It was among the first newspapers in the country to deal with injustice and corruption.[4] The paper also included a special section in which readers wrote their comments or raised questions.[8]
Salam had an anti-American and social democrat political stance.[9] It had also a liberal stance[10] and advocated state planning in economy.[11] It criticized Ali Akbar Rafsanjani while he was serving as the President[9] and supported the next President Mohammad Khatami during his election campaign.[12][13]
One of the editors-in-chief of Salam was Ibrahim Abedi.[14] Abbas Abdi also served in the post.[15][16]
Bans and closure
Abbas Abdi, editor-in-chief of Salam, was jailed for eight months in 1993 for his critical writings published in the paper.[17][18][19] On 7 July 1999 Salam was temporarily banned by the Special Court for the Clergy following its publication of a secret ministry report.[5][12] This incident led to six-day student demonstrations in Tehran.[20] It was the first major student uprising since the Islamic revolution in 1979.[21]
On 4 August 1999 the paper was banned for five years and its publisher, Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha, was banned from journalistic activity for three years.[22][23]
References