http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17544

Ahmadinejad’s government continues to limit freedom of expression and the hardline president, who took office in August 2005, has named former “revolutionary guards” to head the main government ministries and institutions. The hardline media sometimes get away with criticising his policies but the reformist press (too liberal for the government’s liking and with no political backing) has less room to manoeuvre. Independent journalists are regularly summoned by the secret police and can be held in secret for weeks without being allowed to contact family or lawyers. More than 50 journalists were imprisoned in the country in 2007. The dysfunctional judiciary allows the regime to harass and arrest journalists and any dissident voices that still dare to speak up. The government still refuses to put an end to the state monopoly on broadcast media and it is still forbidden to own a satellite dish. Foreign media are closely watched and their local correspondents risk having their accreditation cancelled at any time. International organisations very rarely manage to obtain permission to visit Iran. Reporters Without Borders has constantly applied for and been refused visas for the country over the past ten years.