Tehran  - The head of the Iranian Reporter Association (IRA) said Saturday the association was still legitimate and its activities continuing, Fars news agency reported.

The Iranian Labour Ministry has several times declared the association illegal and demanded its closure until the re-election of its board members.

Fars news agency quoted Rajab-Ali Mazrouei as saying that, contrary to the labour ministry's claim, the IRA was legitimate and its activities still continuing as an independent association.

The IRA was formed with about 4,000 members following the rise of the reform course in Iran in 1997.

Following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president in June 2005, the association de facto lost its status and also its meaning although keeping itself alive.

The Ahmadinejad government ,which has less tolerance with the liberal press than his predecessor Mohammad Khatami, says that the current board members - all reformists and Ahmadinejad opponents - should resign and prepare for new elections.

Mazrouei however said only the IRA members or a court ruling could dissolve the current board and accused the government of trying to impose its own people on the association.

He added the IRA was willing to cooperate in finding a legal settlement to the matter but not giving in to irrational demands by the government.

The IRA was supposed to act as a support body for reporters in Iran, but it failed even during the Khatami-era (1997-2005).

Almost all reporters, who lost their jobs due to the closure of numerous newspapers and magazines by the judiciary, had to look after themselves and try their luck in other jobs.

According to the IRA, almost 100 publications have been banned and more than 2,500 reporters have become unemployed owing to the bans, and it was not yet clear how many had found new jobs and how many were forced to change their professions and do menial work.

Reformist dailies in Iran are usually closed under the pretext of insulting religious and political figures and fomenting public discord. But there have also been closures for non-political reasons.

Iranian cultural authorities, for example, closed down in March nine magazines for reporting on the private life of "immoral" Western celebrities. (dpa)