Iran's leading hardline newspaper, Kayhan, was in court to face defamation charges on Sunday from a number of plaintiffs, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights campaigner Shirin Ebadi.

A close aide to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the controversial Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, was among the plaintiffs, complaining that the paper had accused him of an "anti-national act."
 

Ebadi has accused Kayhan of "defamation" and "spreading lies" over its description of her as a "Shiite but Bahai supporter," alleging that the Nobel laureate backed the beliefs of the banned faith whose followers are persecuted in Iran, ISNA news agency reported.
 

Two other human rights activists, jailed journalist Emadeddin Baghi and lawyer Shadi Sadr, pressed similar charges.
 

In the trial which opened on Sunday, the paper can face a fine or suspension if found guilty.

However, Kayhan is one of the main backers of the country's Islamic regime and its editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, is an influential hardliner appointed by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
 

Iranian reformists and dissidents have long been the target of vitriolic attacks by Kayhan, which accuses them of being foreign stooges.
 

Several reformist journals critical of the government have been hit by frequent closures under Ahmadinejad, especially after his disputed re-election in June.
 

Source: AFP