Iran jails pro-reform journalist,bans two papers

Saharkhiz was arrested during the protest movement that erupted in Iran following the contested re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009.

Meanwhile the authorities banned the pro-reform daily Andishe No (New Thinking) and the weekly Bahar Zanjan (The Spring of Zanjan),named after the northern Iranian town Zanjan,the website said.

Several newspapers have been shut down since the re-election of the hardline president and dozens of journalists have been rounded up and sentenced to heavy prison terms.