Prosecutors in Iran target newspaper over its cartoon mocking internet restrictions

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian newspaper implying that the public needed to have the patience of the Biblical figure Job in waiting for President Masoud Pezeshkian to lift restrictions on the internet now faces potential criminal charges.

The reported case against the pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan represents one of the first media freedom issues to be faced under Pezeshkian, himself a reformist who has promised to ease a police crackdown on women wearing the hijab and improve relations with the West.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency reported Thursday that the charges had been filed by Tehran’s prosecutor’s office against the newspaper. It remains unclear exactly what fines or punishment the publication could face, though some have been ordered to suspend their publication in the past in disputes with Iran’s theocracy.

The cartoon published Wednesday showed Job standing in front of the Cabinet spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, asking: “Excuse me, this filtering is not solved?” Iranians use that term in referring to the internet restrictions, which slow foreign websites and speed those within Iran’s so-called “halal net.”

The cartoon showed Mohajerani answering: “No, be patient a little bit more, it will be solved.”