Tehran's Friday Prayer Leader: Protests Have Diminished After Social Media Filtering

Ahmad Khatami, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, emphasized that protests have "diminished" following the filtering of social media networks, including Telegram, and criticized government officials for suggesting the possibility of lifting the filter on this messaging app. According to the state news agency IRNA, Khatami stated in his sermon on January 5 that after the restriction of the virtual space, the "sedition has diminished." Some officials of the Islamic Republic, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, have referred to recent protests as a "new sedition." Khatami's claim that recent protests have "diminished" comes despite reports indicating that on Thursday evening, the eighth day of protests, Tehran and several other cities in Iran witnessed demonstrations. Khatami criticized government officials' remarks about the possibility of lifting the Telegram filter, saying: "Don't say we have temporarily cut it; if these devils come back, it will be the same old soup in the same old bowl. These are the truths and realities you have seen." He emphasized that the virtual space can be both an "opportunity and a crisis," adding that "you saw that a crisis occurred in our country." Khatami stated that he supports a virtual space where "the key is in the hands of the system" and opposes a virtual space whose server is located in foreign countries. On Friday, Abdol-Samad Khoram-Abadi, the Deputy Attorney General and Secretary of the Internet Criminal Offenses Working Group, also criticized officials in Iran's virtual space, stating that those who did not prevent the activities of websites related to rioters and opponents should be punished according to regulations; otherwise, they should apologize for their negligence. According to the Mehr news agency, this judicial official announced that "the order to block all Telegram channels that have called for violence, terrorism, and unrest in recent days was issued long ago by judicial authorities and communicated to the then Minister of Communications. Unfortunately, no effective action was taken." Iranian judicial officials have long called for the blocking of the Telegram messaging app, but government officials have repeatedly stated that the government does not support blocking this communication tool. On Wednesday, Naser Makarem Shirazi, a cleric residing in Qom, described social networks as "a danger to the revolution, the system, and the security of society" and stated that one should not say, "We have temporarily cut these networks and will return again." Disruptions in user access to the internet and filtering of websites and messaging apps in Iran have faced international criticism, with Reporters Without Borders, an organization defending freedom of expression and media, describing the recent internet restrictions in Iran as "suppressing the freedom of information and the people's right to know." Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, despite previous promises that the blocking of social networks is temporary, announced that "the continued operation of Telegram in Iran is contingent upon the removal of terrorist content." Jahromi did not specify what he meant by "terrorist" content. Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has not yet reacted to this news but previously responded to the Iranian Minister's message, stating that the network is sensitive to promoting violence but does not accept Iranian officials' requests to block channels related to peaceful protests. In his Friday speech, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran described recent protests as "an expression of America's frustrations," claiming that "America has designed a plan, and Saudi Arabia is funding it," which aims to gradually bring weapons into Iran from Herat in Afghanistan and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan to "finish off the [Islamic Republic] in Bahman." Khatami also labeled the protesters' slogans of "No Gaza, No Lebanon, my life is for Iran" as the "voice of foreigners" and stated that this voice "must be silenced." He emphasized: "The voice that rises on behalf of Trump and Netanyahu is not the voice of the nation; it is the voice of foreigners, and the nation will silence this voice." Donald Trump and several officials from his administration and U.S. lawmakers have supported peaceful protests in Iran. Israel has denied interfering in Iran's protests, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing Hassan Rouhani's accusations as "lies and ridiculous." Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, also stated on Friday that recent protests are "dependent" on foreign countries. He added, "It is not acceptable to blacken the people's demands and settle political scores; on the other hand, it is also not right to ride on the people's demands and ignore them, attributing them to the provocation of political rivals." Several websites had previously reported that Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, had severely reprimanded Ahmad Alamolhoda for his "behind-the-scenes actions in the Mashhad protests" and stated that his case would be sent to the Special Court for Clergy. This news was immediately denied by Alamolhoda's official website, and some websites reported that the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad had filed complaints against Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the former mayor of Tehran and Secretary-General of the Construction Party, and Hamid Reza Jalai-Pour, a member of the Central Council of the Participation Front, on charges of "disturbing public opinion and spreading falsehoods." Gholamhossein Karbaschi stated that he had not received a summons, and Hamid Reza Jalai-Pour expressed surprise at the complaint against him on Thursday, describing Iranian reformists as "the chicken of both wedding and mourning." Meanwhile, according to reports from Iranian news agencies, a group of participants in Friday prayers in various cities of Iran marched against the recent protests. IRIB and other Iranian media have reported on these marches in different cities of Iran. According to reports, participants in these marches chanted slogans against the protesters and also against the countries of the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. These marches were held while Iranian Interior Ministry officials declared the protesters' gatherings in recent days illegal.