<p>Javanfekr, who is to appeal the sentence, also prompted a separate two-month ban on a reformist newspaper, Etemad, after it ran an interview with him criticising Ahmadinejad’s hardline opponents, according to another Mehr report.<br /><br />The legal developments come ahead of March 2012 legislative elections that are heightening political tensions between Ahmadinejad and his aides on one side, and ultra-conservatives in Iran’s judiciary and parliament on the other.<br /><br />As well as his role as presidential adviser, Javanfekr heads Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA and newspaper IRAN.</p>
<p>Javanfekr, who is to appeal the sentence, also prompted a separate two-month ban on a reformist newspaper, Etemad, after it ran an interview with him criticising Ahmadinejad’s hardline opponents, according to another Mehr report.<br /><br />The legal developments come ahead of March 2012 legislative elections that are heightening political tensions between Ahmadinejad and his aides on one side, and ultra-conservatives in Iran’s judiciary and parliament on the other.<br /><br />As well as his role as presidential adviser, Javanfekr heads Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA and newspaper IRAN.</p>