Iranian moderate daily relaunched

PAPER LAUNCH: Allies of Rafsanjani, pictured, relaunched a moderate newspaper ahead of March parliamentary elections. (AFP)

Allies of pragmatic Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Sunday relaunched a moderate newspaper ahead of March parliamentary elections seen as a battle between moderates and conservatives.

"Kargozaran" (Executives), which is owned by the Executives of Construction Party, hit the newsstands again with a new layout and staff after it closed down in September due to financial problems.

The party, which was formed by former ministers from Rafsanjani's 1989-1997 presidency and his allies, has joined reformists in a broad coalition for March 14 parliamentary polls.

The new chief editor, Mehran Karami, was a columnist for the banned moderate dailies Shargh and Ham Mihan, which was directed by former Tehran mayor and the party's secretary general Gholam Hossein Karbaschi.

Kargozaran's new layout is very similar to that of Ham Mihan, which was shut down in July less than two months after the authorities allowed it to reappear after a seven-year ban.

"In its new form, Kargozaran seeks to bridge idealism and pragmatism and create a balance between reformism and conservatism so that neither is sacrificed to the other," Karami wrote in an editorial.

"There is a daunting path ahead. Political camps and groups, especially those in power and the ones seeking it need to increase their tolerance to overcome obstacles on this way," he added.

Iran's moderate press burgeoned in the early years of the reformist presidency of Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005 but was then hit by a series of bans which have continued under his hardline successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But despite the frequent closures, Iran retains a surprisingly vibrant moderate press scene led by the reformist dailies Etemad Melli (National Confidence), Etemad (Confidence) and the economic paper Sarmayeh (Capital).

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