Iran blocks two sites supporting Khatami on web

Tehran: Iranian authorities have blocked two websites promoting the presidential bid of Mohammad Khatami, reformists said on Saturday, in a first sign that powerful hardliners might seek to thwart his challenge to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.

Khatami declared on February 8 he would run again for president, setting the stage for a major political showdown in coming months between the popular reformist - who made dialogue with the West a centrepiece of his eight years as president - and the country's ruling hard-liners.

His candidacy poses a serious threat amid popular discontent with Ahmadinejad over the sagging economy, and the action against the websites came as Khatami named leaders in charge of his election campaign.

The websites, www.yaarinews.com and www.yaari.ir, were set up last summer in anticipation of Khatami's candidacy. They could not be accessed from inside Iran on Saturday, though they were viewable outside the country. Khatami's own campaign site, www.khatami.ir, was still accessible.

"At midday, we learned that our websites have been blocked...Closing down our websites means hardliners are not going to tolerate Khatami challenging Ahmadinejad," Behrouz Shojaei, editor of one of the sites, said.

Yaari News, which Shojaei runs with other Khatami supporters, has reported on his candidacy, the reformist's views and growing support for his presidential bid. The other targeted website presented people's views on Khatami's candidacy.

Shojaei said the government was also likely to have been angered after the sites reported that provincial officials abused people into attend a rally where Ahmadinejad was speaking in the city of Yazd on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad allies claimed that the relatively large crowd showed the hardline president's popularity. It might also have been an attempt to strike a blow to Khatami, whose birthplace is Yazd.

Prominent Khatami ally Majid Ansari said blocking the sites was simply an attempt to increase pressure on reformists before the election. "Reformist opponents assume they can block the path of people's understanding but people are wise enough to judge these actions," Ansari said.

"Blocking sites won't stop Khatami from challenging [Ahmadinejad]," he said.

Khatami's candidacy poses a serious challenge to Ahmadinejad, whose mixture of anti-Western rhetoric and fiery nationalism sharply contrasts with Khatami's tempered tones and appeals for global dialogue.

His decision to run comes as President Barack Obama has signalled a willingness for a dialogue with Iran, particularly over the country's controversial nuclear programme.