Lyrics by Queen, Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath banned in Iran

A successful series of books featuring lyrics by Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Queen and others have been banned in Iran in a new crackdown by the Islamic nation's fundamentalist regime. According to the African online newspaper The Mail and Guardian, stores were told to remove the books from shelves, while the publisher was denied permission to reprint the series. Dozens of literary masterpieces and international bestsellers, ranging from William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, have also been prohibited in the new wave of censorship.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with the country's culture and Islamic guidance ministries, has initiated the new crackdown after several years of relatively relaxed rules. Numerous works by Iranian authors have also been banned.

One publisher told the Mail and Guardian, "Culture ministry officials told us that during the (pre-Ahmadinejad) reformist period the government went to excess and permitted books which ruined the atmosphere."

Culture minister Mohammed Hossein Saffar Harandi said that publishers had to be stopped from serving "a poisoned dish to the young generation." He made his remarks ironically during the opening of Iran's national book week.
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