Iran court lifts ban on state newspaper - agency

TEHRAN, Sep 26 (Reuters) An Iranian court today lifted the ban on a state-owned newspaper after it was shut for four months for printing cartoons that sparked protests, the students news agency ISNA reported.

The daily, called ''Iran'', was suspended on May 23 after publishing a cartoon that offended Iran's Azeri minority and led to several days of unrest in northwestern provinces where Azeris make up a large majority of the population.

''The ban on Iran newspaper was lifted according to a judiciary verdict,'' Mohammad Karami, the head of Tehran's public and revolutionary courts, was quoted as saying.

The cartoon showed a boy repeating the Persian word for cockroach in different ways while the uncomprehending bug says ''What?'' in Azeri.

The Azeris of northwestern Iran speak a language related to Turkish. Azeris, who make up 25 per cent of the population, have many luminaries among Iran's commercial elite but Iran's majority Persians often mock them in jokes.

ISNA also published a text of the verdict by Judge Hossein Mohammad Khani, in which he rejected a request by the press supervisory board for the newspaper to be closed down. The text said this verdict could not be challenged further.

Last month, the managing director of newspaper, Gholamhossein Eslamifard, was acquitted of insulting Iran's Azeri minority.

It was not immediately clear when Iran newspaper would reappear on the newsstands.

Reuters BDP DB2110