An Iranian journalist has been banned from working for two years and given a six months suspended jail term over a magazine article, the student news agency ISNA has reported.

Muhammad Hasan Alipour, chief editor of Aban weekly magazine, was sentenced in response to the article and a cartoon that appeared in the magazine, the agency reported on Tuesday.

No further details were given, and his lawyer could not be reached for comment.

In recent months Iran's hardline judiciary has been engaged in a crackdown on pro-reform press and internet sites, detaining some 20 reporters and technicians.

Three Iranian reformist journalists were released after they agreed to write letters of repentance, saying they had been brainwashed by foreigners and counter-revolutionaries.

Iran's judiciary has maintained a crackdown on the pro-reform press for several years, with scores of papers shut down and journalists frequently detained.