Khamenei Exits Telegram; Issuance of Ban on Government Use

While some reports indicate intermittent access to Telegram in Iran, on Wednesday, the Telegram channel of the information office of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced its cessation of activity on this messaging platform. Es'haq Jahangiri, the First Vice President, also exited this messaging service. On the same day (Wednesday, April 29), it was reported that the head of the Strategic Management Center for Cyber Security (Information Security and Production Security) issued a directive prohibiting the use of foreign messaging apps in all governmental and non-governmental public institutions. According to ISNA news agency, the text of the directive by Reza Javaheri states: "According to Clause 7 of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace's resolution regarding the policies and actions for organizing social messaging apps, all governmental and non-governmental public institutions must conduct any advertising in social messaging environments solely through domestic social messaging apps officially announced by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It is clear that any use of foreign social messaging apps for administrative correspondence and providing administrative services remains prohibited." On Wednesday, the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council also announced via a statement that it has exited Telegram. The information channel of the Assembly of Experts also stated that it "has ceased its activities on Telegram from today." On the same day, some users reported to Radio Farda about the disruption of access to Telegram in Tehran and Isfahan. Fars news agency also reported that Telegram was cut off and then restored in Iran on Wednesday. The announcement of Ayatollah Khamenei's exit from Telegram stated that the decision to leave the channel was made "before the official program of the country's institutions to stop using Telegram began." The aim of this decision was announced as "supporting domestic messaging apps and breaking the monopoly of the cyberspace from non-Iranian messaging apps." The information office of the Supreme Leader's office also added that it will continue its activities on domestic messaging apps "Soroush, Gap, and I-Gap." The office of Ali Khamenei, which previously used Telegram and other networks like Twitter to disseminate his speeches and works without official announcement, issued this statement as a promotional move in favor of domestic messaging apps. Twitter's Khabar Online website also reported on the "exit" of Es'haq Jahangiri from Telegram. In a message on his personal channel, Jahangiri stated that in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country, he will not publish any messages on this channel from today, and news of his programs will be disseminated through domestic messaging apps. Jahangiri's exit from Telegram comes at a time when Hassan Rouhani's government has consistently opposed filtering this messaging service. Previously, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced the blocking of Telegram from the end of April, stating that this decision was made at the "highest level." In the political discourse of the Islamic Republic, terms like "highest level" or "senior officials of the system" are often used to avoid direct reference to the Supreme Leader or his office. On the day when the Iranian Parliament hosted the Minister of Communications of Hassan Rouhani's government to discuss the status of Telegram and the possibility of blocking it, Khamenei welcomed what he called the "public demand" for a domestic messaging app. He also addressed "those responsible in governmental and judicial bodies," stating that "they should ensure that the internal privacy of people's lives and their secrets are preserved," and described any violation of the security and internal privacy of people as "religiously forbidden." His remarks aimed to attract public attention to the preservation of their information in domestic messaging apps, while many political figures, including some members of Parliament, have deemed the "distrust" of the people towards domestic networks as a "reality," and described proving this through surveys as easy. Earlier reports indicated that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic agreed with the filtering of Telegram and expressed his "strong" criticism of the lifting of the ban on this messaging service after the protests in December of last year during a meeting with members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. In the street protests of December 2017 in dozens of cities in Iran, which left at least 25 dead in the streets, both Telegram and Instagram were temporarily blocked. Islamic Republic officials, such as Abolhassan Firouzabadi, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, speak of a "voluntary migration strategy from Telegram," while the blocking of Telegram removes the choice from citizens. The monthly publication Peyvast reported that the latest version of Telegram has been removed from Android application markets in Iran. The public relations of "Cafe Bazaar" announced that the committee for determining criminal instances has communicated this matter without any explanation. In recent days, Mohammad Bat'hai, the Minister of Education, announced his joining the Soroush messaging app and requested all units of this ministry to conduct all their informational and executive activities through domestic networks. The news of the impending filtering of Telegram comes at a time when Abolfazl Abutalebi, a member of the board of the Velayati faction in the Iranian Parliament, stated that the closure of Telegram in the country is just the beginning, and "all foreign messaging apps" will gradually be blocked. According to ISNA, this parliament member stated, "If foreign messaging apps like Instagram and WhatsApp do not accept our country's laws, they will gradually be blocked." Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications of Rouhani's government, has warned against the blocking of international services solely to encourage users to use domestic services. He also commented on what is referred to in the Persian-speaking virtual space as "forced migration" to domestic messaging apps, stating that this issue could become "counterproductive." Shahindokht Molaverdi, the Assistant to the President for Citizen Rights, also stated that "the government believes that the monopoly on the use of foreign messaging apps should be broken, but we must also recognize the right of citizens to choose from various domestic and foreign options." The popular messaging app Telegram has over 40 million users in Iran and is on the verge of being filtered while it has also become a tool for buying, selling, and earning income.