Reformist media outlet closed in Iran

TEHRAN, May 18 (UPI) -- An Iranian prosecutor halted publication of the Yas No newspaper supporting Reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi hours after its first issue hit the stands.

The Yas No newspaper ended its six-year hiatus with a May 16 issue that included a front-page article supporting Mousavi for the June presidential election.

A few hours after it hit the newsstands, however, Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi ordered a halt to the publication, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

Iranian authorities closed the publication in 2004 for running a letter from members of the Reformist camp blasting a move by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to back the disqualification of scores of candidates for the parliamentary election that year.

Iranian courts have issued a modest relaxation of media laws, and reporters and editors with Yas No said the decision to shut down the publication is most likely a political move to quash rivals of Principlist candidates, including incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mousavi, however, launched his own publication Monday, Kalameh Sabz, or Green Word, a 16-page daily published in support of the former prime minister, Press TV reports.

"Kalameh Sabz is aimed at creating a mirror-like newspaper, to show who we are and what we stand for and to guide us in finding our path," said the chief editor, Ali Reza Hosseini Beheshti.