A week after a group of publishers issued an open letter protesting the country's descent into a ‎cultural crisis, and three weeks after the protests of several filmmakers who had previously ‎supported reformist candidates in the Majlis elections, the Minister of Culture and Islamic ‎Guidance responded to critics by shutting down several publications, ordering new crackdowns ‎and insulting artists. ‎

The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, who, unlike publishers and writers and artists, has ‎described the country's cultural environment as "excellent and unrivaled," yesterday suspended ‎the publication permits of "Sobh-e Varzeshi" daily and three magazines, "Imen Gostar," ‎‎"Gozidey-e Pazhouheshhay-e Jahan," and "Laleh," increasing the number of banned publications ‎under the ninth administration to 73. ‎

In its last meeting of the Iranian year 1386 [ending on March 20th, 2008], the Press Supervisory ‎Board had banned three weeklies, "Talash,” “Be Sooye Eftekhar,” and “Neda’e Iran,” three ‎‎biweeklies, “Donya’e Tasvir,” “Havar,” and “Sobh-e Zendegi,” and three monthlies, ‎‎“Haft,” ‎‎“Shoka,” and “Baznegari.”‎

Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the ninth [current] administration's security ‎apparatus, reported that the Press Supervisory Board intends to review the permits of sports ‎newspapers at its next meeting. ‎

With the addition of "Sobh-e Varzeshi," "Imen Gostar," "Gozidey-e Pazhouheshhay-e Jahan," ‎and "Laleh," the number of publications banned in the last 13 months reached 31. ‎

A day before banning the four publications, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Saffar ‎Harandi claimed during a meeting with the ministry's employees that he will turn year 1387 ‎‎[ending in March 2009] into the year of cultural growth. ‎

The minister, who had accused the press of instigating a "crawling coup" in the beginning days ‎of 1386 (March 2007), accused artists of receiving orders from foreign embassies and asserted ‎that "The enemy, through its embassies, is deceiving our artists to undermine our nation's ‎interests."‎

Saffar Harandi also thanked officials for banning the new controversial movie "Ali Santouri" ‎directed by internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui. According to Harandi, ‎‎"If we sit down in the court of our national and religious conscience, and review that movie, we ‎see that our friends put an end to the screening of a movie that did not have a single positive ‎message." ‎

Saffar Harandi called on his colleagues at the ministry to prevent such movies from being made: ‎‎"What justification is there to allow for such movies to even be made?" ‎

He ordered various departments at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to be more ‎vigilant in screening cultural products and not show any toleration for inappropriate material. ‎Addressing the ministry's employees, Harandi said: "You must not allow evil material to pass ‎through your supervision." ‎