Iran bars CNN after mistranslation

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Monday it is barring CNN from working in Iran "until further notice" due to its mistranslation of comments made by the president in a recent news conference about the country's nuclear research.

In a speech Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended Iran's right to continue nuclear research. State media have complained since the speech that CNN used the translation "nuclear weapons" instead of "nuclear technology."

The ban by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry was read in a statement on state-run television.

"Due to mistranslation of the words of Ahmadinejad during his press conference, activities of the American CNN in Tehran are banned until further notice," the statement said.

CNN acknowledged the mistake. This is how CNN reported its ban in Iran:

"Wire services are reporting that CNN has been banned from reporting from Iran. We also have to tell you that CNN has not been officially notified about this from the Iranian authorities. It stems essentially from an incident over the weekend when CNN misquoted Iran's president because of an error by a translator hired by CNN. CNN quoted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that Iran has the right to build nuclear weapons. In fact he said that Iran has the right to nuclear energy. He added that, 'a nation that has civilization does not need nuclear weapons and our nation does not need them.' CNN has clarified what the Iranian president said and apologized here on the air to the Iranians directly, as well as on the air."

Restrictions on news organizations are not unusual under authoritarian regimes where press freedoms are already curtailed, said Kelly McBride, leader of the ethics department at the Poynter Institute, a journalism school in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"It's unfortunate that the mistakes happen because it gives (those governments) an opportunity to do what they would probably looking to do anyway," she said.

The ban comes at a time of global concern about the Iranian government's nuclear research and bellicose government rhetoric. McBride said that makes the CNN development particularly troubling now.

"One of the concerns is, it's very difficult for people in the United States to get a sense of what's going on," McBride said. "We saw this in the buildup to the war in Iraq as well. It's very difficult to understand what the truth is. As a citizen of the U.S., I would feel more confident getting my news from an independent news organization like CNN rather than getting my information from a state run news organization or from an organization with a role in the international diplomacy."