Forty lawmakers wrote a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticizing him for the recent ban of Ham-Mihan daily and the filtering of Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA). The Seventh Majlis [“Parliament”] deputies also called on the President to put an end to the curtailment of free speech in Iran.

The letter, which is signed by several reformist lawmakers, states, “Unfortunately, in an administration that promised tolerance, independent publications and those that criticize the government’s performance are either banned or suppressed. Every day, officials and advisors in your administration label and threaten opponents for being ‘corrupt’ or taking part in a ‘coup’ against the government.”

The deputies were referring to remarks made by the administration’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, in which he accused critical journalists of organizing a “crawling coup” through their activities. The minister later denied having made the remarks after they had already been published in hardliner Kayhan daily – where the minister had previously served as editor-in-chief.

The Norooz website, which is affiliated with former reformist officials, reported that the following deputies had signed the letter addressed to president: “Mohammad Reza Tabesh, Hadi Haghshenas, Abdollah Kabi, Esmail Jabbarzade, Ramezan Ali Sadegh, Soheila Jelodarzadeh, Mohammad Ghomi, Seyyed Jalal Hosseini, Amin Shabani, Naser Nasiri, Gholam Hossein Mozzafari, Habibollah Esmailzadeh, Mohammad Karimian, Abbas Ali Allahyari, Hossein Amiri Khamkani, Anoushiravan Mohseni, Mohammad Alikhani, Seyyed Hossein Hashemi, Mehrangiz Morrovati, Bijan Shahbazkhani, Noraddin Pirmoazen, Dariush Ghanbari, Ahmad Khas Ahmadi, Peyman Forouzesh, Vali Raiat, Soleiman Hosseini, Esmail Gerami Moghaddam, Mohammad Mehdi Pourfatemi, Hossein Afarideh, Rasoul Seddighi, Reza Noroozzadeh, Vali Azarvash, Ghodratollah Alikhani, Abdollah Hosseini, Mostafa Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza Sajjadian, Saeed Abutaleb, Alireza Mahjoub, Mouris Motamed, Hassan Abbasi.”

Meanwhile, several news agencies reported an intensification in the filtering of deputies’ computers. In a recent Majlis session, one deputy criticized the leadership of the Majlis about this matter.

In his remarks, deputy Heshmatollah Falahtpisheh addressed the Speaker, “The filtering has increased so much that deputies are unable to view several websites on the Internet.”

Insisting that “deputies must have access to information,” Falahtpisheh promised that if the filters are removed deputies will be careful in observing “ethical matters” and preserving national interests.