TEHRAN - He may be a hit among the poor in the provinces but Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is unlikely to pass a popularity test with Iran's arty upper middle-class who have faced tightened censorship under his presidency.

Scores of prominent filmmakers and intellectuals are urging Iranians to vote for his moderate and reformist rivals in the June 12 presidential election and to put an end to the hardliner's four-year rule.

For decades Iran has vetted artistic productions and publications before their release. Several films, such as by art house favourite Jafar Panahi, have been banned. But the number of banned books and movies is said to have reached a record high under Mr Ahmadinejad.

Artists enjoyed a period of relative freedom during the 1997-2005 reformist presidency of Mr Mohammad Khatami, who came under fire from Islamic conservatives who accused his culture officials of promoting 'decadence'.

Mr Ahmadinejad's government came to power with a pledge to revive revolutionary and Islamic values, and it appointed an editor of the hardline daily Kayhan to head the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

In April 2008, amid complaints of arbitrary vetting and blurred red lines, Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Safar Harandi urged writers to self-censor their books if they wanted to be published.

His ministry has banned scores of titles, including works by one of Iran's greatest authors. Iran is very sensitive about the portrayal of its 'sacred defence', the term used for the conflict with Iraq that claimed a total of one million lives on the two sides.

Most directors who have made movies about the war, including comedies, served as volunteers at the front.

Filmmakers have praised the government for building and restoring movie halls across the country and curbing the distribution of bootlegged DVDs which seriously damage box office sales.

But culture officials have also faced criticism in artistic circles for a proliferation of generic 'spiritual' films and sugary comedies. -- AFP