Scrappy Iran Paper a Barometer of Change

TEHRAN — It broke the story of the Revolutionary Guard commander's behind-closed-doors speech calling for the beheading of Iran's new reformers. It interviewed a former Iranian official freed after 15 years in prison as a U.S. spy. It dares to cover the misadventures of a secretive group of religious radicals known as Ansar-e Hezbollah, or Helpers of the Party of God.

And now Tehran's latest newspaper, Jameh, may get the scoop of its short life: The White House has confirmed that it has approved in principle Jameh's request for an interview with U.S. National Security Advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger--in what would be the first contact between a White House official and the Iranian press in the generation since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Jameh, however, has already made history. Launched in February, the gutsy little paper--16 pages of unconventional news, commentary, acerbic satire, political cartoons and culture--has become a barometer of the sweeping changes in Iran since reformist President Mohammad Khatami took office in August.

"Jameh has two functions: We are trying to build up the level of democratic discourse, and we are a good test case to see how much freedom the government can tolerate," said Jameh's editor, Mashallah Shamsole Waizin.

The appetite for both is high: Kiosk owners say they can barely keep Jameh on the stands, even though it publishes twice a day--and three times on a good news day.

But so are the dangers: Angered by the newspaper's openness, a mob stormed Jameh's provincial office in the northern city of Rasht twice earlier this month, breaking windows and equipment, beating up staff and seizing copies of the paper.

It is also facing growing challenges from political conservatives and even other papers. Recently, the conservative Islamic Republic newspaper charged Jameh with "deviating remarks violating Iran's ideals," "abusing the open climate of dialogue" and "opportunism."

Jameh's coverage of the Revolutionary Guard chief's pledge to "root out antirevolutionaries wherever they are" ignited a firestorm of criticism.

Kayhan, one of Tehran's oldest papers, reported that the Jameh story was "forged with no regard to moral, legal and security consideration."

Jameh boldly shot back that Cmdr. Rahim Safavi's "revolutionary tone and martyrdom-seeking" belonged to a bygone period. And it advised him to "speak with a civil and lawful tone," as the constitution stipulates.