Following the unparalleled censorship campaign that began when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‎became president in Iran, deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance for media affairs Ali ‎Reza Malekian distributed a new memorandum issued by the National Security Council to the ‎heads of newspapers and news agencies in Iran. ‎

The new memo states, "Given the present hostilities in the country's Eastern part and activities ‎by wantons and terrorist groups, and the need to disperse information in an effective and ‎competent manner, and one that conforms to the state’s general goals… it is prohibited to publish ‎any information about events, happenings, accidents, conflicts, etc., in regards to the following ‎considerations, without obtaining prior approval from the relevant provincial information ‎council." ‎

The "considerations" listed by the National Security Council are so broad that they effectively ‎prohibit the press from covering any conflict that is taking place in the country's Eastern region. ‎Here are some of the subjects the memo prohibits from being published:‎

‎- News, reports, pictures, or video clips that in any way may undermine the power and ‎competence of armed and security forces;‎

‎- News that reflect personal or organizational conflicts in the regime;‎

‎- News that covers casualties of security forces while on duty;‎

‎- News that misinforms public opinion;‎

‎- Information or analyses of events that create the impression of incompetence and ‎mismanagement in the leadership of armed and security forces;‎

‎- News that may undermine the unity of Shia and Sunni, or national unity of the country;‎

‎- And a host of other issues. ‎

The National Security Council has already issued several memorandums asking the press to ‎refrain from covering controversial issues. ‎

During his trip to New York earlier this year, President Ahmadinejad claimed that Iran is a free ‎country in which the press is able to mount any criticism against the government and its officials. ‎However, the new National Security Council asks the media to abide not only by National ‎Security Council memorandums, but also by those issued by the Ministry of the Interior and ‎provincial information councils. ‎

Last week, the National Security Council asked the media not to publish any news about recent ‎conflicts in Kurdish areas, and even to refrain from publishing news about events in Iraq's ‎Kurdistan, as it may misinform the public opinion of Kurdish Iranians. ‎

Based on Iranian law, the president serves as the head of the National Security Council, and any ‎National Security Council memorandum bears his signature.‎