SOCIAL DANGER: Barbie dolls displayed on store shelves in Teheran on Monday. Iran seeks to curb the import of Western toys. -- PHOTO: AP

Prosecutor-General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said in an official letter to Vice-President Parviz Davoudi on Monday that the doll and other Western toys were a 'danger' that needed to be stopped.

'The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger,' said the letter.

Iranian markets have been inundated with smuggled Western toys in recent years partly due to a dramatic rise in purchasing power as a result of increased oil revenues.

While importing the toys is not necessarily illegal, it is discouraged by a government that seeks to protect Iranians from what it calls the negative effects of Western culture.

Mr Najafabadi said the increasing visibility of Barbies and other Western dolls has alarmed the authorities, and they are considering intervening.

'The displays of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter...as well as the irregular importation of unsanctioned computer games and movies are all warning bells to the officials in the cultural arena,' his letter said.

He said Iran is the world's third biggest importer of toys, and warned that the flood of toys poses a threat to the 'identity' of the new generation.

'Undoubtedly, the personality and identity of the new generation and our children, as a result of unrestricted importation of toys, has been put at risk,' he said.

Mr Najafabadi's remarks recall an earlier attack in 1996. Then the head of a government-backed children's agency called Barbie a 'Trojan horse' sneaking in Western influences such as make-up and revealing clothes.

The authorities launched a campaign of confiscating Barbies from toy shops in 2002. Iran also introduced its own competing dolls - the twins Dara and Sara - which were designed to promote traditional values with their modest clothing and pro-family stories. But the dolls proved unable to stem the Barbie tide.

ASSOCIATED PRESS