TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranians authorities say they are banning the country's largest-circulation newspaper for publishing a photo of a Baha'i temple.
The Shiite cleric-led regime views the Baha'i religion as heretical and has banned it since the 1979 revolution.
The official IRNA news agency says the daily Hamshahri has been ordered closed for publishing a photo of a Baha'i temple that encourages tourists to visit the shrine.
But director of the daily, Ali Reza Mahak, says he has received no order to stop publication and is preparing to publish Hamshahri's Tuesday edition.
Authorities have launched periodic crackdowns against Baha'i followers, and state-run media often run articles denouncing the religion, founded in the 1860s by a Persian nobleman.