Normally, the 16-year-old exhibition is meant to showcase Iranian media as well as international news outlets with a presence in the Islamic Republic. Last year, even the Los Angeles Times was invited to set up a booth. Alas, no invite was extended to us this year following the political and social tension unleashed by Iran's disputed June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Drama unfolded at the expo Friday after the arrival of opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, who was pummeled by government supporters. One witness said women chanting in support of the opposition managed to drown out Ahmadinejad supporters deriding Karroubi as a 'hypocrite,' code word for a despised exile group. 'He was beaten on the head with a green balloon,' the witness said. 'It was a farcical scene.' Afterward, enraged Karroubi supporters trashed pro-Ahmadinejad news agencies' exhibition stands, the witness said. On Sunday, the exhibition-hall arrival of Ali Reza Beheshti, a top aide to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, sparked a fresh confrontation, Iranian news Web sites reported. According to the Web site Tabnak, 'The supporters of Beheshti and Mousavi increased chanting slogans in response to the chanting of some individuals, and this disturbed the atmosphere of the exhibition.' Others founds more peaceful ways to express themselves. At a stand for the Academy of Arts, which is headed by Mousavi, supporters quietly wrote admiring notes in the guest book using ballpoint pens with green ink, the signature color of the opposition movement. Other than the confrontations between the two political camps, the press fair was even duller than usual, witnesses said. The Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders recently ranked Iran fourth from last in its rankings of journalistic freedom. 'This year worse than last year,' said a journalist attending the fair as a representative for a media organization. She asked not to be named. 'Censorship made the periodicals dull,' she said. 'People do not come to have hot talks with us about the daily news and political development. This year, the stands of the state-run media gave away prizes to woo people to visit them.' Staff writer Daragahi reported from Beirut and special correspondent Mostaghim from Tehran. 