Iran lifts ban of CNN

January 17, 2006 Yesterday the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stated in a letter to the Cultural Ministry, the country was banning all work of CNN (Cable News Network), which is owned by Time Warner Inc., for making a translation error during a press conference on Saturday.

However, today Ahmadinejad announced that Iran was lifting the ban. Apparently late Monday, Ahmadinejad had asked the Cultural Ministry to lift the ban after CNN apologized for their error.

"I want the channel to be allowed to resume its work owing to the apology it made," Ahmadinejad said in a letter sent to the Culture Ministry.

"Following a request from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ban on the activities of CNN's stringer in Iran was lifted," Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, director of foreign media at Iran's Culture Ministry, told the media.

Less than 24 hours ago Iran had banned CNN from the country for misquoting the president as speaking of "nuclear weapons" when he actually spoke of "nuclear technology" during Saturdays press conference.