TEHARAN: Iran has sentenced a prominent journalist critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic policies to more than seven years in prison and to be lashed, opposition websites reported today.

Bahman Ahmadi Amoui "has been sentenced to seven years and four months in jail plus 34 lashes," the Kaleme and Rahesabz websites said.

The journalist was jailed during a massive crackdown on reformists and critical journalists in the wake of the disputed June 12 election which saw Ahmadinejad re-elected amid allegations of poll fraud.

The website reports did not specify the charges against Amoui, who contributed for years to reformist newspapers.

Amoui, who has been in jail since June 20, was an editor in leading economic paper Sarmayeh which was shut down by the authorities in November.

Iran has put about 140 people in the dock suspected of acting against national security by inciting or taking part in street protests which erupted after the election. Several reformist politicians and journalists have been sentenced to jail terms, although some have been released on bail pending appeal.

On Saturday the appeals court upheld a six-year jail term handed down to Ahmad Zeidabadi, a prominent reformist journalist who has to serve his sentence in a remote town more than 1,000 kilometres from Tehran.