Given Iran's strict new policies against cultural products that promote "western" ideas such as feminism, liberalism, nihilism and humanism, the recent endorsement of blogs seems contradictory. The flourishing of blogs, estimated at more than 700,000 worldwide, has created a new space for self-expression on political and social matters.

In a speech during the closing ceremony of the first Festival for Islamic Revolutionary Blogs and Websites, co-sponsored by the ministry of culture, Mr Harandi celebrated the fact that everyone in Iran could now comment on current issues and "speak like a president".

"The hierarchical structure of the real world," he said, "prevents the truth being revealed, while in the virtual world this is not the case." He concluded that such opportunities for free expression would contribute to equality.

Within the new deputy media office, he said, according to the Fars news agency: "Blogs and websites will have a higher priority than the press."
[via Guardian Unlimited newsblog (Hossein Derakhshan)]