Press Law

Ratified on September 8, 2002

Chapter I: Definition of Press

Article 1: In this law, “Press” consists of publications which are published on a regular basis with a fixed name, on orderly dates, and with serial numbers, regarding various fields such as news, criticism, social affairs, politics, economics, agriculture, culture, religion, science, craftwork, the military, art, and athletics.

Note 1: A special issue refers to a publication which is published regularly.

Note 2: A publication which is published without obtaining a license from the [Press] Supervisory Body is not covered by the Press Law, but is covered by the General Law.

Note 3: All electronic publications are covered by the articles of this law.

Chapter II: The Press’s Responsibilities

Article 2: The Press’s responsibility in the Islamic Republican system consists of:

a) Enlightening the public and raising the people’s level of education in one or more of the fields referred to in Article 1.

b) Advancing the aims which are expressed in the Islamic Republic’s Constitution.

c) Endeavoring to eliminate false and divisive boundaries and not establishing differences between social layers on the basis of race, language, customs, local traditions, etc.

d) Struggling against manifestations of imperialist culture (overconsumption, profligacy, spreading false rumors, vanity, fornication, etc.) and spreading and propagating genuine Islamic culture and moral virtues.

e) Defending and strengthening the policy of “Neither East nor West.”

Note 1: Every publication must participate in at least one of the above-mentioned items and not be in the slightest contradiction with the rest and be in accord with the Islamic Republic.

Chapter III: The Press’s Rights

Article 3: The Press has the right to publish and bring to the public’s attention the people’s and the officials’ views, constructive criticisms, suggestions, [and] explanations in accordance with Islamic values and society’s interests.

Note 1: Constructive criticism is conditional upon being logical and reasoned and refraining from insults, humiliation, and destructiveness.

Article 4: No official, governmental or not, has the right to pressure the Press to print an article or to influence it through censorship or controls.

Article 5: The Press has the legal right to acquire and publish domestic or foreign news which is intended to increase public awareness and protect society’s interests, in conformity with this law.

Note 1: In the event of a complaint filed with the court, a violation of Articles 4 or 5 will incur a removal from [government] service of six months to two years and, in the case of a repeated violation, for permanent removal from government service. [It seems likely here that the penalty is actually a removal from the press and not government service.—transl.]

Note 2: The regulations ratified by the Supreme National Security Council are incumbent upon the Press. In the event of a violation, the court may temporarily close down the offending publication for up to two months and the investigation of its license will be prioritized.

Note 3: If a publication’s specialized articles are published in the author’s name (whether his actual name or a pseudonym), he will be responsible under the law supporting the rights of authors and craftsmen and artists; otherwise, the publication will be.

Chapter IV: Limits on the Press

Article 6: The Press is free, except for items which undermine Islam’s bases and commandments, and public and private rights, as set forth in this chapter:

i. Publishing heretical articles which violate Islamic values and spreading material which harms the bases of the Islamic Republic.

ii. Spreading fornication and forbidden practices and publishing photographs, pictures, and material which violate public chastity.

iii. Propagating and spreading overconsumption and profligacy.

iv. Creating conflicts between social layers, particularly through raising racial or ethnic issues.

v. Encouraging people and groups to become implicated in actions against the Islamic Republic’s security, reputation, and interests, domestically or abroad.

vi. Exposing or publishing classified documents, orders, and issues; secrets of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces, military plans, and fortifications; the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s private deliberations; and private decisions of the judiciary and decisions of the judicial authorities without legal permission.

vii. Insulting the true religion of Islam and its sanctities, as well as insults to the Office of the Supreme Leader and the recognized Sources of Emulation.

viii. False charges against the officials, institutions, organs, and each person in the country and abusing actual or legal figures who are respected under sharia law, even if by publishing photographs or cartoons.

ix. Cultural theft and acts like quoting material from the deviant press, parties, or groups which oppose Islam (domestically or abroad) in such as way as to propagate them. (The limitations of the above is specified in the Bylaws.)

Note 1: Cultural theft consists of the intentional passing off of a significant portion of someone else’s works or writings, in whole or in part [sic], as one’s own or as belonging to a third party, even in the form of a translation.

x. Objectifying use of a person (either of a female or a male) in pictures or in text, humiliating and abusing the female gender, propagating extravagance and illegitimate and illegal grandeur.

xi. Spreading rumors and untrue articles or distorting the articles of others.

xii. Publishing articles against the Constitution’s principles.

Note 2: A violation of what is set forth in this Article is subject to punishments as determined in Article 698 of the Islamic Penal Code and in the event of persistence, they are subject to an intensification of the punishments and the forfeiture of one’s license.

Article 7:  The following items are forbidden and are considered criminal:

a) Printing and publishing a publication for which a license has not been issued or whose license has been revoked or which has been temporarily or permanently closed upon orders of the court.

b) Publishing a publication in such a way that most of its articles are at variance with the class of publication the applicant had committed himself to.

c) Publishing a publication in such a way that it might be confused in name, symbol, or format with publications which have been shut down either temporarily or permanently.

d) Publishing a publication without mentioning the name of its proprietor or editor or the address of its office and printing press.

Note: Publications’ centers of publication, printing, distribution, and sales will not be deemed permitted to print, publish, or offer for sale publications which have been found to be in violation of the principles set down in this law by sound courts or the [Press] Supervisory Body.

Chapter V: Conditions for Applicants and the Stages of Issuing a License

Article 8: The publication of a publication by actual and legal persons with Iranian capital obtaining a license from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is free. A publication’s utilization of foreign aid, direct or indirect, is forbidden and considered a crime.

Note 1: Press which is published by Islamic liberation organizations of other countries may be published with non-Iranian capital and officers within the framework of the laws relevant to foreigners living in Iran upon the agreement of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Note 2: Aid from legitimate non-governmental foreign individuals which have been received under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not be covered by this article.

Note 3: Turning over a publication’s concession to anyone else, whether it be absolute, conditional, leased, etc., is forbidden and is considered a crime unless it is done with the written request of the proprietor and approval of the [Press] Supervisory Body.

Article 9:

a) To have the right to apply for a license an individual must fulfill the following criteria:

i. Iranian citizenship

ii. Be at least 25 years old.

iii. Not being a ward or having become bankrupt by fraud or by mismanagement.

iv. No reputation for moral turpitude and not having been sentenced on the basis of Islamic values to forfeiting social rights.

v. Having the educational qualifications of a bachelor’s degree or having concluded the final level in a seminary as determined by the [Press] Supervisory Body stipulated in Article 10 of this law.

vi. Obedience to and acceptance in practice of the Constitution

b) To have the right to apply for a license an individual must meet the following conditions:

i. The legal stages to confirm legal personhood have been pursued and he is permitted to publish the publication in accordance with its founding charter’s organizational rules.

ii. The publication’s field of activity is connected with the legal entity’s field of activity and its geographical bounds are the same as his geographical bounds.

Note 1: The applicant for a license for a publication is obliged to introduce himself or another person as the responsible manager who possesses the conditions stipulated in this article.

Note 2: For publications which are for the internal use of an organization, foundation, or company, governmental or private, which are only published for the use of its employees and is distributed to them for free, only the permission of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in accordance with Article 2 is necessary.

Note 3: More than one publication may not be published with one license.

Note 4: The licensee is responsible for the publication’s general policy. The manager responsible is responsible for each article which is printed in the publication and for other affairs pertaining to it.

Note 5: The [Shah’s] prime ministers, ministers, governors, army and municipal officers, the gendarmerie, government organization officials, active managers and heads of companies and of government bank management bodies and of all companies and foundations whose names must be mentioned in the event of a judgment being rendered against them, Majlis representatives, ambassadors, commanders, mayors, heads of city and provincial bodies [anjomans] of the province of Tehran and other provincial centers, members of SAVAK, heads of offices of the Rastakhiz Party in Tehran and in centers of the provinces and [all] those tied to the former regime who between 15 Khordad 1342 and 22 Bahman 1357 were engaged in the above-mentioned positions, as well as those who had been involved with the former regime during this time either through the Press, the radio and television, or speeches in meetings serving the former regime’s propaganda are banned from publishing publications and any other kind of press activity.

Note 6: The [Press] Supervisory Body is obliged to ask the appropriate authorities (the Ministry of Intelligence, the courts, and the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran) to review the qualifications of the applicant and the responsible manager. These authorities are obliged to announce their view in at most two months to the [Press] Supervisory Body along with qualifying documents. In the event of no reply from these authorities being forthcoming and no reason being presented, their qualifications are considered to have been upheld.

Note 7: The responsible manager is responsible for articles which are published in [his] publication, but this responsibility will not negate the responsibility of the writer or other individuals who are culpable of a crime.

Note 8: Members and supporters of groups which are counter-revolutionary, illegal, or convicted by the Islamic revolution’s courts for the crime of counter-revolutionary activity or against domestic or foreign security, along with those who have been active or propagated against the Islamic Republican system, have no right to press activities or participating in publications.

Article 10: The members of the [Press] Supervisory Body, which is composed of Muslims possessing the necessary scholarly and moral credentials and belief in the Islamic revolution, consist of:

a) A judge selected by the Chief of the Judiciary.

b) The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance or his fully-empowered representative.

c) A representative of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to be selected by that Assembly.

d) A university professor to be selected by the Minister of Culture and Higher Education.

e) A responsible manager of the Press to be chosen from among them.

f) A professor of the Qom Seminaries to be chosen by the Supreme Council of the Qom Seminaries.

g) A member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution to be selected by that council.

Note 1: This body will be formed at the invitation of the Minister of Islamic Guidance in the space of two months after the ratification of this law during the first term and in the space of one month before the term’s expiration during subsequent terms for two years.

Note 2: The decisions of the [Press] Supervisory Body are final. This will not bar complaints or the launching of a lawsuit.

Note 3: The [Press] Supervisory Body’s registry will be formed through the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance’s resources and will perform its duties under that body’s supervision.

Note 4: The Ministry of Islamic Guidance is responsible for calling for and convening the electoral meetings referred to in point e of this Article and is the authority for determining the candidates’ suitability to run in the above-mentioned elections on the basis of the conditions laid out in this article, at the head of which is the body of three composed of the people mentioned in points a through g.

Note 5: The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance will be responsible for the leadership of the [Press] Supervisory Body over the Press and answerable to the Majlis and other appropriate authorities for its actions.

Article 11: The Press Supervisory Body is responsible for answering requests for the issuance of licenses and determining the suitability of applicants and responsible managers.

Note: If the possessor of a license does not fulfill one of the conditions set forth in Article 9 of this law, that license is to be nullified in accordance with Article 10 and the notes therein.

Article 12: The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is obliged to investigate publications’ violations on its own accord or at the request of at least two members of the [Press] Supervisory Body within the space of one month, and should it be necessary, present the issues directly or through the [Press] Supervisory Body for legal prosecution to the court.

Note: In the event of a violation by the subject of Article 6, excepting items iii and iv and items b, c, and d of this article, the Supervisory Body can suspend a publication. In the event of suspension, he is obliged to send the license to the court for review within a week.

Article 13: The [Press] Supervisory Body is obliged to send the necessary review concerning the suitability of the applicant and the responsible manager according to the conditions stipulated in this law within the space of three months from the date of the receipt of an application for a license for a publication.

Article 14: Should the responsible manager not fulfill the conditions stipulated in Article 9 or die or resign, the licensee is obliged to introduce to the Ministry of Islamic Guidance another individual within a space of at most three months who fulfills these conditions. Otherwise, his publication will be prevented from publication and, as long as the manager’s suitability is not confirmed, the manager’s responsibilities will fall on the licensee.

Article 15: The Supervisory Body’s declaration affirming or not affirming the new responsible manager’s suitability will be issued by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance at most three months after his introduction.

Article 16: The licensee is obliged to publish the publication referred to in the license within the space of six months after its issuance. Failing this, he will receive one written warning and be given fifteen [days]. Should he not offer a suitable excuse, his license will lose its validity. If the publication is not published on a regular basis in one year and no suitable reason is presented (according to the [Press] Supervisory Body), the license will be invalidated.

Note: A publication which is published on a yearly basis (an annual) is exempted from this article. Should it not be published in the course of a year and without suitable excuse, the licensee’s license will be invalidated.

Article 17: Licenses which had been issued for current publications in accordance with previously-established principles will remain valid subject to the condition that within a space of three months from the date this law goes into effect the licensee takes measures to make his situation conform to this law.

Article 18: Every issue must announce the names of the licensee and the responsible editor, the address of the editorial offices and press on which the publication is printed as well as its sphere of activity and variety of journalism (religious, scientific, political, economic, cultural, artistic, etc.) on a fixed place on a fixed page. Publishing houses, too, are obliged to conform to the substances of this article.

Article 19: Publications are permitted to print commercial advertisements which advertise and praise goods or services which have been confirmed by one of the country’s research centers recognized in accordance with the law, in accordance with Article 12 of the Bylaws on the founding and supervision of how advertisement offices operate and the relevant items therein.

Note: In cases where it is permitted to publish advertisements including advertisements and encouragement for purchasing goods and services, the text of this advertisement and encouragement may not extend beyond the text of an official notice of appreciation from the legal centers mentioned in this article.

Article 20: Every newspaper and magazine must prepare accounting records registered with a seal in accordance with the law and set its income and expenses in them and send an annual balance sheet of its income and expenditures to the Ministry of Islamic Guidance. This ministry will audit the foundations’ financial records whenever it deems it necessary.

Note: All the Press is obliged to inform the Ministry of Islamic Guidance of its monthly sales in writing.

Article 21: The journals’ responsible managers are obliged to systematically and free of charge send two copies of each issue to each of the following authorities:

a) The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance

b) The Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis)

c) The central court of the publication’s province

Article 22: The importing of publications into the country as well as their exporting is based on the laws of the sharia, the Constitution, and the Islamic Republican system.

Chapter VI: Penalties

Article 23: Whenever something is published in the Press containing an insult or abuse or an untruth or a criticism of someone (legal or actual entity), the concerned party has the right to send an answer to it in writing within the space of a month in that same publication, and the publication in question is obliged to print such explanations and responses for free in one of the two issues after receiving the answer, to be published on that same page and column and in the same font in which the original article was published on the condition that the answer not exceed twice the length of the original article and that it not include insults or abuse of anyone.

Note 1: If the publication, in addition to the aforementioned response, prints further matters or explanations, there remains the right to a further rebuttal by the objecting party. Publishing a part of the aforementioned rebuttal in such as fashion as to render it faulty or meaningless, or, similarly, adding to it is equivalent to not having published it at all and the text of the response must be published in a single issue.

Note 2: A response by a candidate for office in the course of an election campaign must be published in the first issue of that publication on the condition that the answer had been submitted to the publication’s [editorial] office at least six hours before that publication had gone to press and a receipt had been obtained.

Note 3: In the event that the publication refrains from publishing the response or does not publish it, the complainant may appeal to the court and, should the chief of the judiciary confirm the complaint concerning the publication of the answer, he will warn the publication. Should this warning be ineffective, he will send the license to the court after issuing an order for the publication’s temporary closure, which is not to last more than ten days.

Note 4: The measures set forth in this article and its notes do not invalidate the right of the complainant to complain to the judicial authorities.

Article 24: Individuals who expose and publish secret military documents and orders and secrets of the army or the Revolutionary Guards or plans for military fortifications during times of war or peace through any of the Press will be turned over to the court or invested by the authorities.

Article 25: Whoever clearly encourages people to commit a crime against the country’s domestic security or foreign policy for which there are public legal penalties foreseen in the law, should this have proven effective, he will be convicted as an accomplice to the crime, and should it have proven ineffective, he will be treated in accordance with the view of the sharia judge based on the law of ta`zirat [religious chastisement].

Article 26: Whenever the Press is used to insult the true religion of Islam and its sanctities, if it amounts to heresy, the judgment of heresy will be issued against him and executed, and if not, he will be treated in accordance with the view of the sharia judge based on the law of ta`zirat [religious chastisement].

Article 27: Whenever the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran or the true Sources of Emulation are insulted in a publication, its license will be revoked and its responsible manager and the author of that article will be brought before the appropriate court and punished.

Note: Appeals over penalties stipulated in Articles 24, 25, 26, and 27 have nothing to do with complaints of private complainants.

Article 28: The publication of pictures and photographs and articles violating public chastity is forbidden and will result in ta`zirat in accordance with the sharia. Persistence in this will result in more severe ta`zirat and the suspension of its license.

Article 29: The publication of the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s closed deliberations and the nonpublic deliberations of the judiciary’s courts or inquiries by the intelligence or judicial authorities, the exposure of these are forbidden, and should anyone violate this, he will be treated in accordance with the view of the sharia judge based on the law of ta`zirat.

Article 30: The publication of any matter which includes an insult or abuse or obscenities or insulting attributions, etc., towards individuals is forbidden and the responsible manager will be brought before the judiciary’s courts for punishment and the prosecution of the aforementioned crime will be put off until the private complainant complains. Should the complaint be withdrawn, its prosecution, no matter what state it is in, will be suspended.

Note 1: In the above-mentioned article, the complainant (both actual and legal) can enter a call for damages suffered by him by the publication of the above-mentioned article and complain to the appropriate court. This court, for its part, is obliged to investigate this and issue the appropriate judgment.

Note 2: Should the publication of the above-mentioned matter in the above-mentioned article concern a deceased individual but is considered an insult to those who survive him, each of the legal inheritors can appeal for retribution or for legal rights in accordance with the above article and note.

Article 31: The publication of articles which include a threatened affront to dignity or reputation, or an exposure of personal secrets, is forbidden and the responsible manager will be brought before the judiciary’s courts and he will be treated in accordance with the view of the sharia judge based on the law of ta`zirat.

Note: In Articles 30 and 31, as long as the case is at the investigatory stage, the publication being complained about has no right to publish anything about the investigation. Should this be violated, the chief of the court must issue a judgment suspending the publication before the investigation is completed. This suspension will cover the first issue after it is communicated and upon repetition, the publication’s publication will be stopped until the court issues a ruling.

Article 32: Whoever introduces himself in a publication falsely as being the licensee of a publication or its responsible manager, or launches a publication without having a license, will be dealt with in accordance with the view of the sharia judge.

The stipulations of this article shall also include the licensee and the responsible manager who has lost these positions in accordance with the law.

Article 33:

a) Whenever in the publication of a publication the name or logo of another publication is copied, albeit with partial changes, in such a way that it might confuse the reader, it will be kept from publication and the culprit will be sentenced to punitive imprisonment for from sixty-one days to three months plus financial restitution from one million (1,000,000) rials to ten million rials. Prosecution of the crime and its punishment is conditional upon the complaint of a private complainant.

b) After the suspension of a publication, the publication of any other publication in the place of the suspended newspaper in such a way that it is similar in name, logo, or form to the aforementioned publication is forbidden and the new publication will be suspended immediately. The culprits will be sentenced to punitive imprisonment of from three months to six months and fined from ten million rials to twenty million rials.

Article 34: Investigations of press penalties will be made in public courts, revolutionary courts, and other judicial authorities in accordance with the laws relevant to their suitability. In any case, it is necessary that they be public and that a jury be present.

Note: Press penalties can be investigated in the appropriate courts of the provincial centers.

Article 35: Violations of the stipulations of this law are crimes and in the event that penalties have not yet been determined for them in the Islamic penal code or in this law, the violator will be condemned to one of the following penalties:

a) A cash fine from one million to twenty million rials.

b) The closure of the publication for at most up to six months in the case of dailies and at least up to a year in the case of other publications.

Note: The court may convert the press penalties of imprisonment and scourging to one of the following penalties:

a) A cash fine of from two million to fifty million rials.

b) The closuring of the publication for at most up to six months in the case of a daily to up to a year in the case of other publications.

c) Deprivation of positions in the Press for at most five years.

Chapter VII: Press Juries

Article 36 (added July 31, 2000, amended April 18, 2000): Juries will be selected as follows:

Every other year in Mehr, in order to appoint members of the juries in Tehran upon the invitation of the chief of the judiciary and his representative or in his presence or [that of] his representative and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the chief of the city’s Islamic Council, the chief of the Organization of Islamic Propaganda, and a representative of the All-Nation Politics Committee of the Friday Imams, and in the provincial centers, upon the invitation of a representative of the chief of the judiciary or in his presence and the General Manager of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the chief of the Islamic Council of the city in that provincial center or his representative, this body will chose 21 people in Tehran and 14 in the other provinces, people trusted by the public from among the various social groups (clergy, university professors, doctors, engineers, writers, journalists, lawyers, elementary school and secondary school teachers, craftsmen, white collar and blue collar workers, farmers, artists, and basijis) to be members of this jury.

If, for any reason, members of the jury number ten or less, it is obliged to convene a meeting within the space of a month and take measures to complete the members of the jury.

Note 1: Should the substance of the stipulations of this article not be accomplished during this reprieve, the Chief of the Judiciary is obliged to take measures to choose the jury through inviting the aforementioned people.

Note 2: If, for any reason, members of the jury number ten or less, it is obliged to convene a meeting within the space of a month and take measures to complete the members of the jury. [sic]

Article 37 (added July 31, 2000): Members of the jury must have the following qualities:

1. Must be at least thirty years of age and married.

2. Must not have a record of having been convicted.

3. A reputation for honesty, propriety, and a good reputation.

4. Sufficiently learned and knowledgeable in cultural and press issues.

Article 38 (added July 31, 2000): After the election of members of the jury, the substance of Article 36 of this law will be explained one after the other by the Chief of the Judiciary. The Court for Investigating Press Crimes will invite all the members of the jury at least a week before the investigation to be present in the trial session. The court will be considered official in the presence of at least seven members of the jury. A majority of votes of those present shall be a precondition for the jury’s decisions. The jury members are obliged to be present up through the end of the court sessions.

Note 1: The decisions of the [Press] Supervisory Bodies and the juries will be based on an absolute majority of votes.

Note 2: In the event that in the course of two sessions investigating one case of press crime the jury is not able to come to a conclusion (to have the majority of vote), the court will investigate in a third session in the presence of at least five people.

Note 3: A jury’s office will be formed from the judiciary’s resources and budget and will perform its duties under the supervision of the jury.

Article 39 (added July 31, 2000): Each member of the jury who is not present in two consecutive sessions or five different sessions of the court without an appropriate excuse or refrains from participating in taking a decision will be condemned to two years of being deprived of serving as a member of the jury upon a decision of the investigating court.

Note: Each member of the jury who cannot be present in the court for an appropriate reason is obliged to present his excuse in writing and in a well-argued fashion two days in advance of the court session and bring it to the court for its information. Otherwise, his excuse will be considered invalid, except for those excuses which arose in this time up to the court’s session. In any case, he is obliged to announce his excuse to the court.

An appropriate excuse is one which is listed in the judiciary’s charter.

Article 40 (added July 31, 2000): Members of the jury present at the beginning of the first session will swear to exalted God and upon the noble Koran to perform their duty to uphold the truth and deny the false without consideration of personal or group inclinations and with truth, piety, and faith.

Article 41 (added July 31, 2000): The issues leading to expulsion of members of the jury are the same ones which, in accordance with the law, have been mentioned leading to expulsion from the judiciary.

Article 42 (added July 31, 2000): Whoever has a question for members of the jury in the course of a trial should put the issues to be raised in writing and submit them to the chief of the court.

Article 43 (added July 31, 2000): After the conclusion of an investigation is announced, the members of the jury will immediately consult and announce their views on the following issues in writing:

a) Is the accused guilty or not?

b) If he is guilty, does he deserve a reduction in his sentence?

Note 1: After announcing the jury’s verdict, the court will make a determination regarding the culpability or exoneration of the accused and will issue its view in accordance with the law.

Note 2: Should the jury’s verdict be that the accused is guilty, the court may issue a verdict of innocence after an investigation.

Note 3: Should the court’s verdict be based on culpability, the verdict issued in accordance with the stipulations of the law may be appealed. In this stage the investigation, the presence of the jury is not necessary.

Note 4: The presence of the jury in the preliminary investigation and the issuance of legal stipulations is not necessary.

Article 44 (added July 31, 2000): Whenever the court’s verdict is based on exoneration or a conviction which does not require the elimination of social rights, and had the publication previously been suspended, this suspension will be immediately lifted and it will continue publication unimpeded.

Chapter VIII: Miscellany

Article 45: Close supervision over magazines’ activities and the performance of their press duties is the task of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. This matter will not be an obstacle to the [Press] Supervisory Bodies’ performance of their duties.

Article 46: The licensee and the responsible manager are obliged to give all the publication’s employees insurance so that should the publication close either due to a court order or a decision of the Supervisory Body or for any other reason, they might be paid a lawful salary in accordance with the stipulations of the labor law until such time as they find employment once again.

Article 47: The Bylaws for the execution of this law will be prepared within a space of at most six months through the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and with the ratification of the [Press] Supervisory Body.

Article 48: This law must be executed with, among other cases, issues of how to form the [Press] Supervisory Body and the jury after its date of ratification. In addition, at the date of ratification, all the other laws contrary to it, such as the legal press bill ratified in August 16, 1979 by the Revolutionary Council, are voided.

Speaker/Agency: Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis)
Title: Press Law
Language: English
Western Date: 8 September 2002
Persian Date: 17 Shahrivar 1381
Physical/Electronic Location: http://press.gov.ir/rules.php
Citation:
Translation: Iran Data Portal
Date Translated: 14 January 2011
Tags: Press, publications
Date Last Updated: 3 August 2011

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