Iran’s Press Supervisory Board has shut down Zanan Emrooz (Today’s Women) magazine and filed a complaint against it in court.
The Tasnim website reports that the magazine has been shut down for “publishing material in violation of religious and national values”.
The report indicates that the violation involved “the promotion of so called ‘White Marriage’, which is regarded as an affront to morality”.
White Marriage refers to the cohabitation of a man and a woman who are not legally married.
Recent reports indicate that Iranian youth are less and less interested in getting married and more inclined to enter common law marriage arrangements.
A spokesperson for the magazine, Shahla Sherkat, told ISNA that the concept of “White Marriage“ was first discussed by the ministry of the interior, and Today’s Women covered it as a women’s issue.
Sherkat criticized the media coverage of the Press Supervisory Board decision, saying the board should have informed the magazine first and given it a chance to explain before allowing publication of the news.
