Publication of Rouhani's 'Highly Confidential' Letter Following His Criticism of Telegram Filtering

Less than a week after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's explicit criticism of the filtering of the Telegram messaging app, an old letter he wrote to the Minister of Communications was published on Monday, May 6. The letter has six sections, three of which directly relate to recent news and reports about the filtering of Telegram: 'Effective action against VPNs', 'Strengthening domestic messaging networks', and 'Ending the monopoly of the current foreign messaging app'. The letter emphasizes the 'serious pursuit' of strengthening domestic messaging apps and 'requiring government agencies to use domestic messaging networks in the administration of the country'. As noted on social media platforms including Twitter, this letter was seen by members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly with a 'Highly Confidential' stamp on Monday. After several weeks of speculation and multiple reports about the high likelihood of filtering the Telegram app, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office issued an order for the blocking of this messaging service last week, asking internet service providers in Iran to implement this order starting from Monday, April 29. In response to this ruling, President Hassan Rouhani emphasized on Friday, May 3, that his government played no role in the blocking of the Telegram messaging app and did not implement it. In a message on Instagram, Rouhani wrote: 'The policy of the eleventh and twelfth governments is based on creating a safe virtual space, not a security-based one. No social network or messaging app has been blocked by this government and will not be. The recent filtering and blocking of Telegram has neither been implemented by the government nor is it approved by the government.' This clear stance from Hassan Rouhani fueled significant criticism from the conservative factions of the Islamic Republic and on social media, with the Fars news agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, going so far as to describe his action as a 'gesture of opposition'. It seems that the publication of the President's confidential letter to the Minister of Communications also occurred in this context; a letter that is said to contain the President's order for the filtering of Telegram and has led to criticism from many social media users who accuse Hassan Rouhani of 'hypocrisy' and 'lying'. The letter, signed by Hassan Rouhani and addressed to the Minister of Communications, bears the 'Highly Confidential' stamp dated January 15, 2018, less than a month after widespread protests began in the city of Mashhad and quickly spread to dozens of other cities. The letter clearly refers to the 'recent events' of the past January and was apparently written two days after the Supreme National Security Council of Iran held an extraordinary meeting regarding these protests. However, the President's letter to the Minister of Communications does not mention the filtering of the Telegram app, nor does it issue any order in this regard. Nevertheless, Fars news agency reported on Monday, citing a member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, that the President's directive to the Minister of Communications was 'clear', and only 'doubts about Rouhani's opposing opinion in this regard are raised'. In March 2018, some Telegram channels reported that in one of the meetings of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace attended by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had 'strongly' criticized the lifting of the Telegram filter. Nevertheless, Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications, stated that there was no plan to block this messaging app. So far, no government official has reacted to the publication of the President's confidential letter regarding messaging apps, but some of his supporters on social media have commented that the letter was written in January following the people's protests and should be considered in light of the 'specific conditions' of that time.