Iran blocks opposition party newspaper

Iran's government was accused of blocking publication of a reformist party's newspaper Wednesday to prevent it publishing a letter from a presidential candidate questioning the legitimacy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in last month's election.
Meanwhile, questions surrounded an announcement in government-run Iranian media that Ahmadinejad canceled a planned trip to Libya on Wednesday for undisclosed reasons.

In the letter due to be printed in the Etemed Melli party newspaper, Mehdi Karrubi vowed to "stand by the people and the revolution, until the end of my life," describing the actions of the government over the June 12 vote as "the foundation for the annulment of the elections."

"I will not recognize the legitimacy of the government which has resulted from this process," the 72-year-old cleric and former parliamentary speaker wrote.

Karrubi's letter was instead published on the Etemed Melli Web site. The party said Iran's Ministry of Culture and its Attorney General prevented the publication of its newspaper because it carried the letter.

Karrubi, dubbed the "Reform Sheikh" by Iranian media, is a well known political figure in Iran and received international press in 2002 when he led a walkout to protest the jailing of a fellow politician who called himself a reformist.

He and fellow reformist candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi have questioned the legitimacy of the vote count of the presidential election that gave Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory.

That result sparked bloody street protests and a clampdown on international media coverage, as well as access to certain Web sites.

The protests have largely dissipated, but another leading Iranian reformist, former President Mohammad Khatami, said "all doors are not yet closed."

"We must not lose our social capital this easily," Khatami told progressive Iranian newspaper Tahile Rouz. "I know Moussavi as one of the faithful, original and valuable capitals of our revolution and considered his return to the political scene, as a great chance.

"The current militarization of the security environment must change and society must be taken towards calm and I believe that all doors are not yet closed,"