A daily paper in Iran has been banned from newsstands for insult and publishing articles critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies.

On Saturday, Iran's press commission withdrew the license of Tehran Emrouz after it published a special issue on the third anniversary of Ahmadinejad's election Friday that contained numerous insulting articles critical of the government's economic policies.

One article in particular questioned Ahmadinejad's earlier policies during his term as Tehran's mayor.

The newspaper published an apology in its Saturday edition, citing 'journalistic adventurism' as the main cause of its 'mistake', but it was too late to prevent the cancellation of the publication's license.

Tehran Emrouz, which was launched approximately 18 months ago, was generally seen as having close ties to the current Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

MT/MR/GM