Culture minister calls for freedom of press
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran, 03-May-2003

Tehran, May 4, IRNA -- Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jamei said here on Saturday that freedom of the press will prevent the accumulation of negative anxieties in society. The minister added that freedom of the press is a lengthy process unattainable through political decision-making.

Speaking on the World Day of Freedom of the Press commemorated in Iranian Journalists Association, he added that the challenge interfering the promotion of such a freedom can only be tackled by dialogue and proper analysis of the present status of the press in the country.

The minister said that the close assessment of the press laws, freedom and limits of its task is effective in institutionalizing freedom of the press. Referring to `Independence', `Freedom' and `Islamic Republic' as three distinct principles of the constitution, he said that independence and freedom complement one another. He added that according to the constitution, freedom of the press can be realized.

Masjed Jamei noted that power and the requests of the community are constantly contradictory to one another, on which understanding can be reached by relying on laws, the public opinion and the rulers. "Once a proper and lawful atmosphere is created, diversity of the press can be materialized," he added. Referring to the recent regional war, he noted that the event proved that the world is not one with a single-media anymore and that the free multi-media trend has developed a new phase.

The ceremony was attended by a number of MPs and journalists as well as the head of the United Nations Information Center in Tehran, Iftikhar Ali.