Iran’s culture minister has once again defended his policies at the ministry despite repeated efforts by a faction of parliamentarians to impeach him for loosening the censorship criteria.
On a program aired on Friday on Channel 3, Ali Jannati stressed that his mission as the minister is to defend and disseminate “Revolutionary values” and to follow the recommendations of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Jannati has been criticized for allowing the screening of two films in particular, which the parliamentarians bent on impeaching him claim are “seditious.” Jannati has responded that his ministry is more than capable of identifying eligible films for screening and he has refused to ban the two films.
The culture minister also confirmed that the ministry has a list of writers who are blacklisted from publishing; he added, however, that the general practice at his ministry is to consider the content of books rather than ban them just on the basis of who wrote them.
The Rohani administration is facing serious opposition from Parliament, where allegations persist that the government’s policies are drifting away from Revolutionary values. A report this week indicates that up to half of Pesident Rohani's ministers may be impeached by parliament.
