Iran imposes severe restrictions on media ahead of presidential election

Iran has imposed severe restrictions on foreign and domestic media to ensure that coverage of presidential election on Friday is tightly controlled.

International media watchdogs and journalists said Iran has simply ignored or rejected most visa applications from foreign news organizations to cover the election.

Press TV, an Iranian channel, quoted an interior ministry official on Wednesday as saying that over 1,000 journalists will be covering the election.

According to the Guardian, Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based organisation, said Iran had not issued visas to the vast majority of foreign journalists who requested them.

The organization said journalists who have obtained visas have been prevented from moving freely in Tehran, banned from meetings of candidates supported by reformers and from contacting government opponents or the families of political prisoners, the report said.

Iran's culture and Islamic guidance minister, Mohammad Hosseini, had last week said his government would closely examine 200 applications from foreign journalists to keep out Zionist spies, the report added.