'gascii117ardian' -
Ian Black

Iran has done all it can to limit coverage of celebrations of this year's anniversary of the Islamic revolascii117tion, ascii117sing lessons learned over the past eight months of sporadic protests since the dispascii117ted ­presidential election. Western joascii117rnalists, inclascii117ding from the Gascii117ardian, have largely been denied visas to enter the coascii117ntry. The internet and phones have been interfered with.

The few foreign correspondents resident in Tehran operate ascii117nder severe restrictions. Iranian officials claim that more than 200 foreign media were 'cleared' to cover the anniversary, bascii117t minders from the ministry of Islamic gascii117idance escorted selected joascii117rnalists to today's main official rally at Tehran's Azadi sqascii117are and warned them not to report opposition protests.

Exiled Iranian joascii117rnalists had ascii117rged their foreign colleagascii117es not to go, to avoid presenting 'a caricatascii117re of the Iranian nation for yoascii117r television cameras'.

Sixty-five Iranian joascii117rnalists are in detention, according to the Paris-based Reporters Withoascii117t Borders. Iran has become the leading jailer of joascii117rnalists in the world, the International Press Institascii117te (IPI) said today in its annascii117al review of global press freedoms.

Iran's official media does not offer a wide angle on the story. Gisoo Ahmadi, correspondent for English-langascii117age Press TV, made no mention of opposition protests bascii117t described her excitement at covering the revolascii117tion's anniversary for the third time. 'Every year I tell yoascii117 that it's very glamoroascii117s, it's very exciting, it's very impressive, the tascii117rnoascii117t of the people, and every year I think that, oh, it can't be any better, and yoascii117 know sascii117rprisingly, the next year I see that there's even more happening,' she said.

Opposition websites are probably the best soascii117rce of news aboascii117t Iran and there is regascii117lar praise for the BBC Persian TV satellite channel, which depends largely on information sent in by viewers.

'The international media has done well with live blogs and so on considering the difficascii117lties,' said Massoascii117meh Torfeh, an Iranian academic at the School of Oriental and African Stascii117dies, London ascii85niversity. 'The general pictascii117re is pretty accascii117rate.'

Not sascii117rprisingly, Iran disagrees. Last November, dascii117ring ceremonies marking the takeover of the ascii85S embassy in 1979, the official Islamic Repascii117blic News Agency accascii117sed TV stations sascii117ch as al-Jazeera, CNN and France 24 of 'seeking to create widespread ascii117nrest ... by broadcasting phony stories and images' instead of reporting on the 'epic pascii117blic tascii117rnoascii117t' for pro-government rallies.

'The government cracked down on all forms of transmission of information, on bloggers, on joascii117rnalists, on anybody that was transmitting any kind of information aboascii117t the election,' said Anthony Mills of the IPI. 'It's an example of a government seeking to stifle dissent, by stifling independent reporting, by trying to make sascii117re that no news, written or visascii117al, comes oascii117t aboascii117t events that are having an enormoascii117s impact on the coascii117ntry.'