Tehran court lifts ban on paper, frees editor

Reza Sadr, an Iranian newspaper editor, was freed on bail after two weeks in jail, only hours after a court temporarily lifted a ban on his paper. Mr. Sadr, managing editor of the liberal daily Mizan (Scales of Justice) and a former commerce minister, said he hoped the paper would reappear within two or three days.

Mr. Sadr said he had been formally charged with "disturbing peace and security and insulting the disciples of the imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]" in connection with two editorials he wrote for Mizan. He said he had been released on bail of 5 million rials ($70,000) but tha t no date had been set for his trial.