07 February,2012 08:48 AM IST | | Agencies
Bart Simpson and his family have joined Barbie on a list of dolls to be banned by the Iranian government.
The move against Springfield's favourite cartoon characters is part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in the country.
But bizarrely the fictional US superheroes Superman and Spiderman are being allowed on sale because they help 'the oppressed'.
"We don't want to promote this cartoon by importing the toys," said Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults' secretary Mohammad Hossein Farjoo.
He also added that any doll on which genitals are distinguishable, as well as dolls of adults, are also banned.u00a0
He added that dolls of Spiderman and Superman were authorised and said, "They help oppressed people and they have a positive stance."
