The daily Shargh, or East, was the most prominent reformist daily opposed to the hard-line policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

We got a call from the Press Supervisory Board saying that we have no right to publish our newspaper as of today,’ editor Mohammad Ghouchani told The Associated Press.

The Press Supervisory Board ordered the daily to be closed down for dozens of violations,’ the official IRNA news agency reported.

The editor said he didn’t know why his paper had been closed down.

Ghouchani said the paper had heard of over 70 complaints against us but we are not yet aware of the nature of the complaints or the reasons behind them.’

But prominent reformist journalist Mashallah Shamolvaezin said the closure was ordered because of a cartoon the paper published last Thursday.

The cartoon showed a chess board with a horse and a donkey. The donkey’s mouth is open and there is some light around it. Journalists say judiciary officials apparently took the donkey as representing Iran in nuclear negotiations with the West.

The decision comes amid reported progress made in talks between Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana in Vienna, Austria, meant to defuse a standoff over Iran’s nuclear activities.

Western nations fear Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons but the oil-rich nation insists its nuclear program is aimed purely at generating electricity.

Iran saw a wave of newspaper closures in past years amid a confrontation between reformers and hard-liners during the 1997-2005 tenure of reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

The hard-line judiciary shut more than 100 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of editors and writers.