Iran Cancels Foreign Media Accreditation

TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran has banned foreign media journalists from leaving their offices to cover protests on the streets of Tehran following the country's disputed presidential elections.

The Culture Ministry said journalists could continue to work from their offices but that it was cancelling press accreditation for all foreign media.

"No journalist has permission to report or film or take pictures in the city," a Culture Ministry official told Reuters.

The announcement came after three days of streets protests against Iran's election results, during which at least seven people were reported to have been killed.

The demonstrations have riveted world attention on the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter, which is locked in a nuclear dispute with the West.

Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi cancelled a planned rally on June 16 in a move he said aimed to protect his supporters' lives. Backers of hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad planned a counter-rally at the same site.