Gmail Bans in Iran
Iran’s telecommunications agency has announced the suspension of access to Gmail, the Google email service,…
Iran’s telecommunications agency has announced the suspension of access to Gmail, the Google email service, in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal website. In a move ahead of Thursday’s 31st anniversary of the creation of Iran’s Islamic Republic, the national telecoms agency in Tehran said that it will ban Gmail and will instead facilitate its own national email service.
The decision, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes just a month after Google threatened to leave China amid concerns that its systems had been attacked by Chinese hackers.
The Iranian announcement is understood to be part of a wider crackdown on opposition protests ahead of today’s anniversary, Surgical Procedures Step By Step Pdf which is likely to bring significant protests from both dissenters and supporters of the Islamic revolution.
The development came amid reports of significant disruptions to internet services across the country in the last week, as well as delays in text messages being sent. It remained unclear as to what impact Healthy Lifestyle Tips For Students the announcement had actually had on the Gmail service in the country. YouTube, which is owned by Google, was one of the main ways in which video footage of the protests was beamed around the world.
The web giant said that the decline had happened even though its networks were working properly. Opposition websites have urged major demonstrations on the most important day of the nation’s political calendar. Google says its e-mail traffic in Iran has dropped sharply, amid reports access is being restricted for the Islamic Revolution’s anniversary. The web giant said that the decline had happened even though its networks were working properly. Opposition websites have urged major demonstrations on the most important day of the nation’s political calendar. Iran’s police chief said that some activists had been arrested as they prepared for protests. Google said users of its Gmail had experienced difficulties following a newspaper report about official restrictions.
A Google spokesman said: “We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail. We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly.
“Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online. Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control Tehran rally Official events will be held across Iran but the main gathering will be at Tehran’s Azadi square, where President Ahmadinejad is expected to speak.
Anti-government websites have urged their supporters to attend the rally too, raising the possibility of a confrontation. Ahead of the commemorations, police chief Esmail Ahmad Moghaddam said the Revolutionary Guards and Basij Islamic militia were ready for any trouble. “We are fully prepared for holding a safe and glorious rally,” he told Fars news agency, according to agency. “We are closely watching the activities of the sedition movement and several people who were preparing to disrupt the 11 February rallies were arrested,” he said. The anniversary comes a day after the US extended Iranian sanctions, aimed at the Revolutionary Guards. The US Treasury will freeze the assets of a senior Guard commander, as well as four subsidiaries of a construction company he runs. The move follows the announcement by Iran of its Permanent suspension Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possible, this is quoted by a California-based company said in a statement. “Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran’s telecommunications agency had announced a permanent suspension of Google Inca’s e-mail services. Washington – which on Wednesday extended sanctions against Tehran – said any efforts to keep information from Iranians would fail. US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said: “Virtual walls won’t work in the 21st century any better than physical walls worked in the 20th century. The 31st anniversary of the revolution could see protests from opposition supporters who say last June’s re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged. Opposition leaders Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi have called on their supporters to rally on Thursday. Anti-government websites have urged marchers to display green emblems or clothes – the colour adopted by the opposition movement after the disputed election. Fatal violence erupted after the poll, and sporadically since then. The micro-blogging site Twitter and other social networking sites were used extensively during the post-election protests.
