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CNN Banned from Iran

Iran has banned CNN journalists from the country because it mistranslated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad`s comments. Although CNN does not have a permanent bureau in Tehran, it gets permission to cover big stories in-country. The network`s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, is currently in Iran on assignment.

The network`s translator had the president saying Iran had a right to used nuclear "weapons" rather than nuclear "technology." The network has since issued a correction and an apology, but Iran`s ego has not been soothed. The Iranian Culture Ministry says CNN violated "professional ethics".

The Culture Ministry, recently having been ordered by the president to ban Western music, issued a statement which said "Taking into account CNN`s actions contrary to professional ethics in the past years and their distortion of the president`s comments during his press conference on Saturday...no journalists from CNN will be authorized to come to Iran."