A Member of Parliament: We Were Not Satisfied with the 'Superficial Reports' of the Ministers of Information, Interior, and the IRGC

Ministers of Information and Interior, along with the Deputy Commander of the IRGC, reported to the parliament in a closed session regarding the nationwide protests in Iran. However, the representative from Izeh stated, 'The representatives were not satisfied with these superficial reports.' According to Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Qasim Osmani, a representative from Boukan who attended the closed session on Sunday, January 7, said that Mahmoud Alavi, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, and Hossein Salami assured the representatives about establishing a calm atmosphere in the country. Jalal Mirzaei, a representative from Ilam, also mentioned that Mr. Rahmani Fazli presented a report on the recent protests, 'along with statistics and figures.' He stated that the Minister of Information also addressed issues related to the 'root causes' of these protests. Mr. Mirzaei did not refer to the details and content of the statements made by these three officials. Reports indicate that Hossein Ashtari, the Commander of the Law Enforcement Force, and Ali Asgari, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, were also present at this session. Meanwhile, Hedayatollah Khademi, the representative from Izeh, told ILNA News Agency, 'The representatives were not satisfied with the superficial reports provided by friends.' In this context, Behrouz Namati, the spokesperson for the Parliament's Presiding Board, described this session as a 'consultative' meeting with the Ministers of Information, Interior, the Deputy Commander of the IRGC, the Commander of the Law Enforcement Force, and the head of the IRIB. He also announced the 'provision of measures' to lift the filtering of the Telegram messaging app in Iran, adding that 'this action depends on Telegram's commitments to Iran, as the current situation and the actions of adversaries against the Islamic Republic were carried out through Telegram's information channels.' He added that 'it seems negotiations have taken place between the Minister of Communications and Telegram, and based on the emphasis of representatives and security officials, the lifting of the filter will depend on this entity's commitments to Iran.' According to Mr. Namati, several members of parliament and Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, also requested the Ministry of Information to follow up on the situation of detained students and provide their final report on this matter to the National Security Commission of the Parliament. The spokesperson for the Presiding Board also announced that in this closed session, 'criticisms regarding the national media's way of informing and the lead of some opposing websites on this issue were raised, and it was decided that the shortcomings and failures of this entity would be addressed.' Reports indicate that in this closed session, the recent protests were viewed as 'riots,' and issues regarding the activities of 'some intelligence services in the region and American intelligence services' were discussed. Previously, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, announced two days after stating that the blocking of social networks was temporary, that 'the continuation of Telegram's activities in Iran is contingent upon the removal of terrorist content.' He noted that social media activities would resume in areas where 'calm has returned,' stating, 'We have corresponded with the Telegram manager that the continuation of Telegram's activities in Iran is contingent upon the removal of terrorist content.' This government official did not specify the 'terrorist' content he referred to. Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has yet to respond to this news, but in response to a previous message from the Iranian Minister of Communications, he stated that the platform is sensitive to promoting violence but does not accept requests from Iranian officials to block channels related to peaceful protests. Disruptions in user access to the internet and the filtering of websites and messaging apps in Iran have faced international criticism, with Reporters Without Borders describing the recent internet restrictions in Iran as 'suppressing freedom of information and the people's right to know.' In this context, Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a religious authority residing in Qom, last Wednesday described virtual networks as 'a danger to the revolution, the system, and the security of society,' addressing the officials of the Islamic Republic by saying, 'Do not say we have temporarily cut it off and will return again.' Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, also emphasized that with the filtering of social networks, including Telegram, protest gatherings have 'subsided,' criticizing government officials' statements about the possibility of lifting the filter on this messaging app. Meanwhile, Nahid Tajaldin, the Secretary of the Social Commission of Parliament, stated that with the filtering of the Telegram social network, all of the government's threads in the virtual business space have been cut off. The Secretary of the Social Commission of Parliament stated that 'according to some statistics, today more than 600,000 Telegram channels are active, over 40% of which are virtual stores.'