Iran will from next month ban banknotes which have been scribbled upon, Iranian media reported Thursday, a move one conservative website said was in response to the appearance of political slogans on some of them. Expressions in support of moderate opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, such as “Oh Hossein, Mir Hossein”, have occasionally been cropping up on Iran's banknotes since its disputed election in June. Other, non-political scribbles are frequently seen on various denominations, which all carry the image of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “Banknotes on which there are writings or are stamped or have any additional signs will be invalid,” the Jam-e Jam daily quoted central bank official Ebrahim Darvishi as saying. He called on the public and shop owners not to accept such notes from Jan.8, it said. State radio also carried the report. The Ayande website, seen as close to conservative politician Mohsen Rezaie, said in a headline about the move: “The central bank's reaction to the writing of slogans on banknotes.” In October, daily Mardomsalari quoted Tehran city council member Morteza Talai as calling for the invalidation of notes “with the slogans and messages of counter-revolutionaries,” an apparent reference to Mousavi supporters. “Montazeri is not dead,” said a slogan on a 20,000-rial note (about $2) seen this week, after Saturday's death of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a fierce critic of the hardline authorities, at the age of 87 Police arrest mourners Iranian police clashed Thursday with mourners of dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, making arrests and injuring some, an opposition website said after Tehran warned of a crackdown. Former govt official jailed A reformist former government spokesman detained after Iran's disputed election in June has been sentenced to six years in jail, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday. It said Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, who backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the vote, was sentenced by a court on charges including acting against national security, propaganda against the Islamic system and possessing classified documents.
