Hayat-e-No (Persian: حیات نو, lit. 'New Life') was a reformist newspaper published in Tehran, Iran. The paper was in circulation from 2000 to December 2009 when it was closed by the Iranian authorities.

History and profile

Hayat-e-No was established in 2000 in Tehran following the closure of another reformist paper, Azad.^[1][2] The publisher of Hayat-e-No was Hadi Khamenei, brother of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei.^[1] Hameed Qazwini was the editor-in-chief of the paper.^[3] When Bahar, a reformist daily, was banned in August 2000 Hayat-e-No became one of the most significant media outlets for the reformist groups in the country.^[4] During this period Hayat-e-No sold 300,000 copies.^[4]

In June 2005, before the presidential election, the paper along with other reformist papers, including Aftab Yazd and Eqbal, published the letter of presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi to Ali Khamenei.^[5][6] Upon this publication the papers were banned for one day by Tehran Public and Revolutionary Court.^[5][7]

Hayat-e-No supported Mir Hossein Mousavi in the 2009 presidential elections held in June.^[8][9] In the immediate aftermath of the elections the paper was censored by the Iranian government.^[3] In December 2009 the license of the paper was revoked by the Press Supervisory Board "for working outside the regulations"^[8][10] and on 7 December it was closed down.^[9]

Hayat-e-No and four other publications, namely Etemad Melli, Sarmaye, Arman and Farhang-e Ashti, were all close to the Green Movement^[11] and shut down by the Media Supervisory Board in the same period.^[12]

References