Iran's Minister of Culture: Judicial Authorities Have Filtered Websites and News Agencies, We Are Not Responsible

The Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance announced that the order to filter several news agencies and websites was issued by judicial authorities on Sunday, not by the Committee for Determining Criminal Internet Content. Meanwhile, the CEO of the Borna news agency stated that this agency and other sites were filtered due to the publication of statements by Gholamreza Ansari, a member of the City Council, regarding the 'illegality' of the transfer of municipal properties. According to ISNA news agency, Ali Jannati, the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, on Tuesday, September 15, in response to a question about whether the filtering of websites and news agencies is considered a political action, said: 'You should ask the authorities who issue the filtering orders, not us.' According to Mr. Jannati, website filtering in Iran is either done by the Committee for Determining Criminal Content or by orders from judicial authorities, with recent cases not approved by this committee and announced by judicial officials. According to IRNA, he added: 'If a judicial authority orders the filtering of certain websites, I am not responsible, and this issue is in no way political.' The Iranian judiciary on September 14 blocked two news agencies, 'Moj' and 'Borna', and several news websites including 'Poyesh', '9 Sobhe', and 'Persian Khodro' due to 'complaints in judicial authorities'. Some media had reported that the Committee for Determining Criminal Internet Content had issued the order to filter these websites. This committee consists of six government members, two members elected by the parliament, and the remaining 13 members are representatives of institutions under the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Last week, the 'Architecture News' website was also taken offline due to detailed reports about the transfer of Tehran municipal properties, and its editor-in-chief, Yashar Soltani, was summoned to court following a complaint from the chairman of the City Council and the mayor of Tehran. In this context, some Telegram channels attributed the filtering of these websites to the publication of reports about the transfer of municipal properties in Tehran, known as 'astronomical properties'. Meanwhile, Mohammad Mobin, CEO of Borna news agency, announced that the court had declared the publication of Gholamreza Ansari's statements regarding the transfer of municipal properties as the reason for filtering this news agency. According to Mr. Mobin, in Borna's report of Mr. Ansari's statements, 'no definitive judgment was made' and it was only 'emphasized that if the inspection organization’s report is accurate, action should be taken against the violators.' Gholamreza Ansari had stated on September 2 in a City Council meeting that the General Inspection Organization had provided a report on the 'illegal' transfer of properties in Tehran, but no information had been provided to the City Council. Based on a published image of the General Inspection Organization's letter, the Tehran municipality had 'illegally' sold 200 properties belonging to the municipality at 'unrealistic' and 'very low' prices, along with a '50 percent' discount and in '60-month' installments to certain managers of this institution and others close to the mayor of Tehran. However, this organization announced on September 13 in a statement that the published letter 'does not constitute the final report of the organization.' On the same day, Sadegh Larijani, head of the Iranian judiciary, in a letter to Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, called for 'action' against media that he claimed were 'violating' regarding the disclosure of the transfer of municipal properties to members of the City Council. Mr. Larijani also criticized the publication of the names of individuals involved in the financial misconduct of the Tehran municipality, saying: 'What does it mean for the names of individuals that the inspection organization has inquired about to be published?' The head of the Iranian judiciary rejected the 'dual approach' of this institution regarding 'astronomical salaries and the Tehran municipality case,' adding: 'Foreign anti-revolutionaries are trying to constantly imply that everyone in the Islamic Republic is corrupt and a thief.' In recent days, some reformist media criticized the 'dual approach' of conservatives regarding the issue of the salary slips of Hassan Rouhani's government officials and the transfer of municipal properties. Ahmad Masjed Jamei, a member of the Tehran City Council, also stated on September 12 that websites that 'attributed serious accusations to the government under the pretext of salary slips' were not filtered, and the filtering of the Architecture News website would be interpreted by public opinion as 'a dual approach to a problem.'