Iran suspends paper calling Assad ‘unwelcome guest’

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad (L) and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran on 25 February 2019 [Yousef Alhelou/Twitter]

Iranian authorities have temporarily suspended the Qanun newspaper after it ran a headline deemed offensive to Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad.

The article titled “The unwelcome guest” addressed a meeting between Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, and Al-Assad which took place on Monday in Tehran which has caused controversy after only the Iranian flag was on display.

Iranian authorities issued a statement saying “the Court of Cultural and Information Affairs, in accordance with article 576 of the Islamic Penal Code, decided to temporarily stop the Qanun newspaper as of tomorrow, in order to prevent the occurrence of a crime.”

This is not the first time the newspaper has been closed and banned from publication, similar orders were issued in 2015 and 2017.

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