Iran’s minister of communications and information technology is continuing to criticize unelected governmental bodies for their attempts to block social media and messaging services.

Iran’s judiciary shut down Telegram, a popular messaging service with approximately 40 million users in Iran, after conservative officials complained that national security vulnerabilities had been introduced by the Telegram servers and that the user information of tens of millions of Iranians was being stored outside of the country. The communications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, who has championed a more open online environment, said Iranians will use virtual private networks to bypass the current blocks on Telegram, thus creating more serious security challenges.

The blocking of Telegram is not the only obstacle hindering the efforts of the administration of President Hassan Rouhani. Following a parliamentary report on dual nationals working within government institutions, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has written an open letter defending its monitoring of dual nationals. The issue has become a hot topic once again in conservative media outlets. 

The “Final Report on the Investigation of the Status of Dual Nationals” was issued by Iran’s influential and powerful National Security and Foreign Policy commission headed by Alaeddin Borujerdi. The Intelligence Ministry letter was addressed to Borujerdi and attempted to clear the air about the ministry’s name in tracking and monitoring the 210 identified dual nationals working in various sectors of the government, including institutions run by the Rouhani administration. The letter addressed several points and requested that the report be corrected.