Iranian authorities jail Ahmadinejad's press adviser

Ali Akbar Javanfekr goes to prison for ‘publishing material contrary to Islamic norms’

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s top press adviser has been taken into custody to serve a six-month jail sentence after being convicted of “publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms.”

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, who is also the head of the state-run IRNA news agency, is one of dozens of Ahmadinejad’s allies detained since April 2011 after the president briefly challenged an order from the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the choice of intelligence chief.

The semiofficial Fars news agency said security officers from the Tehran prosecutor’s office detained Ali Akbar Javanfekr on Wednesday. IRNA said Javanfekr was arrested as Ahmadinejad began his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.

An Iranian court convicted Javanfekr last November, and also banned him from journalism activities for three years.