Banned Iranian state newspaper resumes publication

TEHRAN, Oct 28 (Reuters) A state-owned Iranian newspaper resumed publication today, more than five months after it was banned for insulting Iran's Azeri minority.

The Culture Ministry's Press Supervisory Board suspended the Iran daily on May 23 after publishing a cartoon that offended Azeris and led to days of unrest in northwestern provinces, where Azeris make up a large majority of the population.

''The people of Iran, hello!'' read the daily's main headline, ''Iran newspaper begins publication after a five-month-long stop,'' another head line read.

The daily carried an editorial by the conservative Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi that said the suspension of ''Iran'' has been a result of careless journalism.

''Now Iran newspaper has returned with a mouthful of apologies and a heart full of compassion for all Iranians of all ethnicities,'' the editorial read.

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

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

A court had ended the newspaper ban in September but it did not make clear when it was supposed to resume publication.

The newspaper's managing director, Gholamhossein Eslamifard, was acquitted of insulting Iran's Azeri minority in August.

REUTERS RB RK2242