Deputy Health Minister Reza Khatami denounced a hardline religious court's conviction of a leading pro-reform newspaper chief on Sunday and said the eradication of the moderate press was alienating the Iranian people.

``It will eventually lead to an uncontrollable situation,'' he told the moderate Sobh-E-Emrouz paper. ``People will seek other ways to express their ideas and opinions because they lack a legal way to do so within the system. And sooner or later, the regime will feel the negative effects,'' he said.

``The main objective of those trying to close down Iran's newspapers is to prevent the political awareness of the people,'' Khatami said. ``Given that state radio and television are biased in disseminating the news, the only way to get true news is through the independentpress.''

In a separate interview he vowed that his brother was ``adamant'' about carrying out his reforms, including greater freedom of the press, despite fierce conservative Opposition. ``The right wing put heavy pressure on the President to abandon his ideas,'' he told the English-language Iran News. But his determination to push through his reform agenda is ``adamant and categoric,'' Khatami said.

The Special Court for Clergy (SCC) on Sunday found the head of the Salam newspaper guilty of a sweeping array of charges after a one-day trial, almost certainly paving the way for an indefinite shutdown of the popular and outspoken daily. The paper was officially banned earlier this month, sparking days of bloody riots pitting student protesters against security forces and Islamic hardliners.

It was the third major pro-Khatami paper to have been closed down since the beginning of the year, while dozens of moderate journalists have been arrested or called in for questioning.