Several Iranian media have received subpoena after reporting a recent speech of Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s former reformist president.

In February the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, announced that media in Iran had been prohibited from publishing the name or images of Mohammad Khatami. This despite the fact that president Hassan Rouhani, who is also head of the Supreme National Security Council, denied the ban.

“The Supreme National Security Council has no resolution to restrict or ban the media from publishing photos or reports [about Khatami]. Whoever assigned it to the council is a liar and should be punished,” said Hassan Rouhani on June 13, 2015.

Iran’s judicial system, which is dominated by conservatives, operates separately from Rouhani’s government, meaning that the president’s hands are tied when it comes to influencing its decisions.

Mohammad Khatami has fallen foul of the establishment because of his support for Iran’s opposition leaders and former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since February 2011. Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who is also a prominent opposition figure, is under house arrest too.

Read more about the ban on reporting Khatami in the Guardian.