Tehran  - The Iranian judiciary on Monday ordered a jail term for the head of a major news agency on charges of "spreading lies," ISNA news agency reported Monday.

Massoud Heydari, manager of the labour news agency ILNA, was sentenced by a Tehran court to jail term of 91 days and a cash fine of 107 euro for "having spread lies," ISNA reported.

The charges against the ILNA manager were not given in detail but ILNA, the news organ of the Iranian labour party, mainly dealt with labour issues and frequently reported about problems of workers, their protests and also their arrests.

ILNA was closed down by the judiciary in July last year after there had been several complaints by conservative circles against the news agency.

ILNA is close to the moderate-reformist coalition and has been critical of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the president's economic policies, especially with regards to the labour class. (dpa)