Fars News Agency reported on Friday February 27 that the Jamaran and Bahar News websites have been blocked and are no longer accessible by internet users.
Later, ILNA also reported that the two websites are being blocked adding that website organizers say they have not received any official letters from the judiciary to explain the interruption.
The Jamaran website belongs to the organization charged with collecting and preserving the works of the late leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, and in recent years they have been covering news involving the late leader’s grandson who has emerged as a moderate member of the clergy supportive of the reformists in the Islamic Republic establishment.
According to Fars News Agency Jamaran has published a number of interviews in recent weeks with “radical reformist figures” and also widely covered news of former Iranian president and top reformist figure Mohammad Khatami.
Fars has also referred to Bahar News as a “news source with radical reformist tendencies”.
There have been certain reports in recent weeks about a ban on covering news of former president, Mohammad Khatami. The ministry of culture has said however that it has not been informed of any such order the judiciary.