[3] In 1997's Iranian presidential election, Hamshahri newspaper, then run by former mayor of Tehran, Gholamhossein Karbaschi, was accused by conservatives of supporting Mohammad Khatami.

On 6 February 2006, Farid Mortazavi, graphics editor of Hamshahri, announced the International Holocaust Cartoon Competition, a cartoon contest to denounce what it called 'Western hypocrisy on freedom of speech', alleging that "it is impossible in the West to joke upon or even discuss certain topics related to Judaism, such as the Holocaust, and the pretexts for the creation of Israel.".

The contest was created in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and ended on 1 November 2006 with Abdellah Derkaoui, a Moroccan cartoonist, claiming the first prize.

[4] The event was denounced by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Israeli foreign ministry, Reporters Without Borders, the Anti-Defamation League and other parties.

[5][6] The newspaper was temporarily banned from publication on 23–24 November 2009, after it published a picture from a temple of the Baháʼí Faith, which is an unrecognized religion in Iran, where its followers are subject to state sanctioned persecution.