''Jame'eh'' () was a Persian language reformist newspaper published in Tehran briefly between February and June 1998.

Geneive Abdo Geneive Abdo (born 1960) is an American scholar and author of several books on the Middle East and the Muslim World. She was previously a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a nonresident fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at B ...

described it as the first free newspaper in Iran.

History and profile

''Jameah'' was launched on 5 February 1998.

Mohsen Sazegara Mohsen Sazegara (; born 5 January 1955) is an Iranian journalist and pro-democracy political activist. He was the founder of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. He held several offices in the government of ...

was one of the three founders of the paper. Hamidreza Jalaeipour was the publisher. The paper gradually became one of the most read newspapers in Iran selling 300,000 copies. It was a supporter of

Mohammad Khatami Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critic ...

and frequently covered news about the US movies. In June 1998 the license of the paper was cancelled due to its allegedly insulting news about the head of the

Revolutionary Guards The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...

Rahim Safavi Yahya "Rahim" Safavi (, born 1952) is an Iranian military commander who served as the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Currently , Safavi is serving as a senior military advisor to the leader of the Islamic revolution. Ad ...

. Following this incident the paper was banned by the

Iranian government The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), known simply as ''Nezam'' (), is the ruling State (polity), state and current political system in Iran, in power since the Iranian Revolution and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. Its Const ...

and was succeeded by another reformist newspaper ''Tus'' which was started in July 1998. The editorial staff of the newspaper was same with those of ''Jameah'', but it was soon shut down. Then the reformists launched another newspaper, '' Neshat''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jameeh 1998 establishments in Iran 1998 disestablishments in Iran Banned newspapers Censorship in Iran Defunct newspapers published in Iran Newspapers established in 1998 Defunct Persian-language newspapers Publications disestablished in 1998 Daily newspapers published in Iran