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Iran Buys US Tech From 3rd Party; Blocks Opposition Sites

July 01, 2003
Dow Jones Newswires
The Associated Press

TEHRAN -- Iran is buying advanced U.S. technology through third parties to block web sites run by opposition groups, an official said Tuesday.

More than 140 web sites promoting dissent against the ruling Islamic establishment, and others including dancing and sex, have been blocked since the crackdown was launched last month, said Farhad Sepahram, a Telecommunications Ministry official.

Most blocked sites belong to Iranian opposition groups, including one run by Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was toppled during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Abolhassan Banisadr, Iran's first-elected president after 1979, who now opposes the clerical establishment.

Also blocked are the Voice of America's Farsi program and radiofarda.com, another U.S.-financed, Farsi-speaking radio program.

Sepahram said his ministry had blocked some pornographic sites run by Iranians from outside the country, but admitted it was impossible to close all sex- related sites.

"We are employing modern U.S.-made devices to block immoral and abusive web sites," Sepahram told The Associated Press.

The U.S. cut off relations with Iran in 1979 after militant students stormed its embassy in Tehran. The U.S. has also imposed trade sanctions on Iran.

Sepahram said Iran imported the U.S.-made technology from third parties, but refused to elaborate.

Sepahram said his ministry was following orders from the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, an unelected body controlled by hard-liners.

"We have no preferred choice. We block sites according to a list we get from the council," he said.

The council was established by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 revolution that replaced the shah with a government run by Islamic clergy. Most members are appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's successor. Reformist President Mohammad Khatami is the chairman but conservatives outnumber reformists on the council.

Prominent analyst Saeed Leylaz said the crackdown was intended to undermine or limit the impact of opposition sites on Iran's public.

"That they are blocking sites with pornographic materials is a malicious lie. It's simply impossible to block hundreds of thousands of sex web sites," Leylaz said.

"The intention is to block web sites run by both opposition groups and reformers who talk to their audience through the web after their newspapers were closed down by the hard-line judiciary," he said.

Leylaz said the crackdown was an attempt at denying reformers of a forum to address Iran's young and Internet-savvy population.

Hard-liners are increasingly concerned about Iranians' access to information from the outside world, a sign of worry that communications are playing a role in stirring pro-reform sentiment

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

Those kids ought to be able to hack through that. If we knew the equipment, we could probably have one of the freepers figure out the backdoor.

Iran Buys US Tech From 3rd Party; Blocks Opposition Sites

We need to do two things.

One, publish for our friends in Iran, methods to workaround the filters. We need this up quickly.

Two, get the media to dig up which 3rd party country sold them US filtering equipment. France and Sweden sold them the equipment to jam the satellite broadcasts. Whichever country did it need to pay a price from our government.