TEHRAN -- A court here Wednesday banned the Persian daily Hamshahri from publication for 10 days on a charge brought by the secretary of Iran's Labor House, Alireza Mahjoub.

The suspension will go into effect from Thursday, deputy head of Tehran Justice Department, Ali-Asghar Tashakkori said, adding the ban was imposed since Hamshahri had refused to publish Mahjoub's clarifications about an article published in the paper.

"According to Article 23 of the Press Law, if a publication refrains from publishing such a letter, the Justice Department can serve a warning and ultimately a 10-day suspension on the paper if the warning is not heeded," Tashakkori said.

Hamshahri is the most-widely read newspaper in Iran, which is published by Tehran Municipality. The paper has already run into trouble by having been banned by the Iranian Judiciary from distribution outside the capital.

A court head in the northwestern city of Qazvin told IRNA Tuesday that it had closed down the weekly Taban-e Qazvin on libel charges.

"The weekly is banned from publication and distribution until further notice and its managing editor has been summoned to court to be informed of the charges brought against him," he said.

Earlier this month, the court in Qazvin lifted a temporary ban on another local weekly which was suspended in November on charges of promoting 'depravity' and discrediting clerics.

Head of the Public Relations Office of Qazvin's Justice Department, Abdollah Qoreyshi, told IRNA that the ban was lifted on the appeal of the editor of Name-ye Qazvin (letter of Qazvin).

The same court suspended another weekly -- Hadith-e Qazvin -- in August.

Iranian courts have summoned scores of journalists and closed down their publications for 'publishing lies and inciting public opinion'.