Disagreement of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace Regarding the First Phase of the National Information Network

A week after the Iranian Ministry of Communications unveiled the 'National Information Network', a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace announced that the council rejected the ministry's report on the implementation of the first phase of the national network and did not vote in favor of the plan. According to Mehr News Agency on Saturday, September 4, the aforementioned report was presented at the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's meeting last Saturday and was rejected in the same session. This report was submitted one day before the unveiling of the National Information Network, and it seems that its content failed to convince the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology unveiled the first phase of the National Information Network on September 7. The ministry announced that the second phase of this network is set to be unveiled in February of this year and the third phase in May of next year. While government officials emphasize the implementation of the first phase of this plan, according to Mohammad Hassan Entazari, a real member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, the members of this council opposed this phase. Mr. Entazari added that the Ministry of Communications introduced the establishment of the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) as the first phase of the national network, but the members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace believe that this ministry 'should not consider the operationalization of this phase as the National Information Network.' According to him, the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) is one of the main pieces of the National Information Network that 'was supposed to be launched several years ago,' and currently, the Communications Infrastructure Company has operationalized this plan. However, Mr. Entazari stated that the ministry's report in the mentioned session was about launching this plan, but some council members believed that 'this center is separate from the path that the National Information Network should be implemented.' The National Internet Network project in Iran has been proposed since late 2005, with the main reason for its formation being the reduction of dependence on the global internet network. This project was reintroduced in 2010 under the new name 'National Information Network', and last September, Ali Khamenei designated 'accelerating the establishment of the National Information Network' as one of the council's most important tasks. The Iranian government has been working for years on a plan to separate the internet from the global web, but critics are concerned that the government will use its control to further restrict users. The National Information Network is an IP-based network along with switches, routers, and data centers, ensuring that internal access requests and information stored in domestic data centers are not routed from outside the country.