Muslim Iranians will go to the polls on December 15 to vote for the Assembly of Experts, its congressional body. Asia News writes about the increasing grip the Iranian governing regime has over the national press and some websites, including the recent closure of the Shargh newspaper. Blogger Hossein Derakhstan offers this take on the situation:

The closure of Shargh newspaper could be explained best this way:

Shargh was not only the voice of the moderate reformists, but also targeting a very influential part of the reformist constituency with higher income and higher education.

So now that the Assembly of Experts’ election is under way, which is basically the body that is supposed to appoint the Supreme Leader and to watch his performance.

The radical conservatives, Ahmadinejadies, have tried to stop moderate clerics from running with different techniques such as exams on their religious expertise (because they have to be Mojtaheds, or senior cleric who are allowed to issue fatwas.)

Continue reading his comments on the newspaper’s closure.