The Association of Iranian Journalists has issued a statement warning against efforts by the Ministry of Labour to establish a larger, all-encompassing organization to replace the existing association.
The Shargh daily reports that according to the statement, the labour ministry has been calling on different journalists to argue the case for replacing the association of journalists.
The Association of Iranian Journalists describes the ministry’s actions as “opportunistic” and calls on the ministry to stop interfering in the business of worker and professional organizations. The association also urges the president to step in and end the interference.
Last July, the president’s cultural advisor announced the imminent launch of the Association of Journalists.
The head of the Association of Iranian Journalists, Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, said the proposed change involves more than the group’s name and, indeed, the nature of the organization would also be altered.
The association was shut down in 2009 in the wake of the election protests and has remained closed. It had 4,000 members at the time of its shutdown.
