The CST, which many Iranian jurists and clerics dispute its legality and competence, said that the daily's Managing Editor, Hojjatoleslam Hadi Khameneh'i, who is the younger brother of the arch-conservative leader but an adviser to the moderate president was summoned to the tribunal and was informed to stop publication of the daily until further notice.

The editors and staff of the paper apologised to the public for the "misinterpretation", announced a voluntary suspension and explained that the cartoon had nothing to do with the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Though the younger Khameneh'i has opposite views of his brother, but no one can doubt his sincere esteem for Mr. Khomeini and cannot be suspected of wanting to insult him, observers said.

But in an orchestrated move, religious schools and circles in the city of Qom, controlled by the hard liners and on the payroll of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, insisted that the cartoon was a deliberate insult to Ayatollah Khomeini and urged the authorities to punish the culprits.

Hundreds of people staged a demonstration against the "insulting caricature" in the religious city of Qom Friday, while in Tehran scores of demonstrators gathered in front of paper’s offices.

The demonstrators called Hadi Khamenei a "hypocrite" and chanted: "Hayat No must be closed".

Senior officials of the Qom’s seminaries, including Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, the city’s Friday Preacher and Speaker of the Assembly of Experts and Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, an influent member of the leader-controlled Council of Guardians strongly attacked Hayat No for printing the cartoon and called for a nationwide protest to be held on Sunday.

In a petition, also circulated in the same city, pro-conservative clerics and students criticised the government and the Judiciary for showing leniency towards "sinners who dare insult Islam and the prophet", a clear reference to the case of professor Hashem Aqajari, who has been sentenced to death for a conference in which he said people do not have to follow blindly the clerics.

At the same time, another court ordered the closure of the daily "Bahar" (Spring) on several charges, including insulting state officials and inciting public opinion, but dating two week ago, when the daily had returned to newsstands.

"The daily Bahar, despite earlier suspension and conviction on several charges, has been persisting in propagating against the (Islamic) system and publishing lies in order to instigate public opinion", the official news agency IRNA quoted a statement from court.

Owned and published by Mr. Sa’id Poorazizi, who is also the head of the president’s office for relations with the press, Bahar was banned in August 2000 on similar charges.

In an interview with the Persian service of the BBC, Mr. Isa Saharkhiz, a member of Press Supervisory Board said though the court had assured Mr. Poorazizi that the charges brought against his paper concerned the first issue of the new series and he could continue publishing provided he do not repeat the past mistakes, yet the paper was suspended.

"This is a clear evidence that the cases, including that of the cartoon in Bahar No, are purely political and related to the government’s bill concerning the Council of the Guardians, presidential powers and the upcoming city councils elections", he explained.

"It is crystal clear that the ruling conservatives are looking for any pretext to continue pressures, as seen in the case of the incriminated cartoon, which, despite the fact that obviously it has nothing to do with the late Khomeini, yet the hard liners are abusing the people’s sentiments", he told the Persian service of Radio France International (RFI).

In his view, since both the conservatives and the reformists have reached their own impasses, therefore they have "no other choice but getting together during the final fall into the abyss".

"The situation right now is such that anything, any move the regime does turn against it. If it increases pressures, it would backfire and if it relaxes, that would backfire as well and meantime, one mustn’t forget the international situation that also dictates its conditions", he pointed out.

As a result, the Judiciary had announced that it would consider suspending stoning people, mostly women, on charges of adultery, as dictated by Islam.

Meanwhile, newspapers said Saturday that a Tehran court sentence a teenager to death for repeated boozing.

The condemnation came two days after another court in Shiraz ordered the cutting of the right hand and left foot of four other teenagers accused of theft and armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic.

Both courts justified the sentences as being based on Islamic laws.