In his Soroush account — a local messaging application in Iran – Deputy Prosecutor General Abdolsamad Khorramabadi announced that “Telegram will never be unblocked.” (Tabnak state-run Website – Jul. 24, 2018)
On April 18, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Telegram channel announced it would have no further activity. It said, “In order to protect the national interest and to break the monopoly of the Telegram messenger,” the website khamanei.ir has stopped its activity on this messaging application.
On April 18, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Telegram channel announced it would have no further activity. It said, “In order to protect the national interest and to break the monopoly of the Telegram messenger,” the website khamanei.ir has stopped its activity on this messaging application.
The website said Khamenei will continue his presence in cyberspace through local messaging applications.
However, a large number of Iranians have lost their trust in local messaging applications as these internet users assume their activities are monitored by the security apparatus in Iran.
Moreover, Rouhani’s administration announced April 18 that all governmental departments and organizations must stop using Telegram as it is forbidden for them to do so.
Furthermore, Iran’s Deputy Prosecutor General Abdolsamad Khorramabadi said April 18: “Based on the approvals of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, no foreign messenger in Iran is allowed to operate unless it accepts five conditions:
- obtaining permission from the legal authorities;
- storing and processing Iranian users’ data inside the country;
- not giving the data to foreigners and preventing their access to the data;
- complying strictly with the rules and regulations related to the protection of users’ privacy;
- and [appointing] an official and authorized representative for managing its affairs [in Iran] and responding to queries from judicial authorities inside the country.”
The Supreme Council of Cyberspace is tasked with dealing and making policies about cyberspace in Iran.
Most of the members of the council are appointed by Khamenei, although the president is the secretary of the council.
