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IRANIAN REGIME IMPOSES NEWS BLACKOUT.

As of 7:30 a.m. Tehran time on 10 July, domestic Iranian broadcasting carried no news of the previous night's events. Moreover, the broadcasts of Los Angeles-based Persian-language satellite-television stations, such as Pars TV, Channel 1 TV, NITV, and Azadi TV, were being jammed and could not be received in Iran. Mobile-telephone service in parts of Tehran allegedly was shut down, too. The websites of the news agencies ISNA, Baztab, Mehr, and Fars were not updated during the night, and although it was updated regularly the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) carried no news about the unrest. The reformist Iranian print media complained that it was acting on a government directive that forbade reporting about the events of the previous day. A 10 July editorial in "Yas-i No" apologized because it could not mention "a single word about the 9 July anniversary of that regrettable and criminal event." It said that "every reference to 9 July, except the date of publication, had to be removed because of the imposed restrictions." BS

DETAINED CANADIAN JOURNALIST REPORTEDLY IN COMA IN IRAN. The Iranian government has agreed to permit an independent physician to examine Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, "The Toronto Star" reported on 10 July. Her son said Kazemi is in a coma and shows signs of having been severely beaten after being taken into custody last month and accused of espionage. Kazemi's family said she was taken into custody on 23 June after photographing Evin Prison. Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesman Reynald Doiron said that as of 9 July the Iranian government had not responded to an official demand for an explanation. Canadian officials who went to Baghiatollah Hospital in Tehran were only allowed to view Kazemi through a plate-glass window, "The Globe and Mail" reported on 9 July. "We couldn't tell whether she was just plain unconscious, or in a coma, or sleeping," Doiron said. BS

source RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 129, Part III, 10 July 2003