Iran suspends reformist newspaper Ham-Mihan over protest coverage

Iranian authorities suspended the reformist newspaper Ham-Mihan on Monday after it published articles related to the recent protests which have rocked the country, with officials saying the coverage was "undermining security".

Javad Ruh, the paper’s editor-in-chief, said the Press Supervisory Board announced that the closure was due to "two articles published recently" by the newspaper.

The first was an editorial by Ruh titled "From January 1979 to January 2026", published in the issue on 16 January 2026.

The second was an article by Laleh Mohammadi titled "When the sanctity of treatment collapses", published in the issue on 8 January 2026. The article featured on the front page under the headline "The story of hospitals from Ilam to Sina". It also accused security and police forces of attacking hospitals during the protests.

In the latest issue, the newspaper published an account of the "January events," where it said there was a high number of people killed and injured in the cities of Izeh and Ramhormoz. It also noted that around 10 people with disabilities died in Mashhad, in eastern Iran, and added that most detainees were aged 20 to 25.

Before its suspension, Ham-Mihan reported that "unofficial reports speak of protests in more than 100 Iranian cities, including small towns". 

Reports in the publication further stated that the scale of the protests and the number of casualties remained unclear due to internet shutdowns and the absence of official statistics. It added that what was known came from information gathered before the official internet cut-off and from conversations with residents of those cities.

Another article that has stirred controvery among officials in the newspaper was centred on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the fall of the Shah. The report, titled "From January 1979 to January 2026," is about the fall of the Pahlavi monarchy and its final weeks in January 1979. It makes references to the current nationwide protests that have taken over the country.

The article argued that part of Iranian society and elites had come to believe that, despite its flaws, the Shah’s regime still had decision-making power, and that its fall began when it lost that ability and became indecisive.

That weakness, the article said, strengthened the revolutionaries. It likened Iran’s current situation to that period, saying the Islamic Republic is suffering from a crisis in decision-making and an increasing sense of helplessness in changing course.

The piece concluded with a warning that the continuation of this "non-decision" would not only strengthen the opposition but could also prompt external powers to impose alternative options, and that some people were using the opportunity to call for a return to the Pahlavi regime.

Ham-Mihan is a reformist Iranian newspaper run by politician and former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi. The daily paper had previously been suspended more than once, but resumed operations in July 2022 when a ban on it was lifted.  

On Sunday, an Iranian official said at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including around 500 security peronnel. The official, who cited verfied figures, accused "terrorists and armed rioters" of killing "innocent Iranians".