RFL/RE — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on Iranians to send the United States videos, photos, and other information “documenting the regime’s crackdown” on protesters, as authorities in Iran are slowly easing up on blocking access to the Internet.“The U.S. will expose and sanction the abuses,” Pompeo wrote in a tweet published late on November 21 in both English and Persian,s Iran’s …

RFL/RE – U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Tehran of disconnecting Iranians from Internet access to cover up dozens of killings over the past week amid protests that erupted over fuel-price hikes.“Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire Internet System…thinking the world will not find out the death and tragedy that the Iranian Regime …

CHRI – App Would Expose Users to State Surveillance, Various Security Risks Recent news that the Iranian government is developing a virtual private network (VPN) app that would grant less censored internet access to select groups of users has raised concerns that the state is implementing a discriminatory system that would restrict the right of access to information to be determined by a …

CHRI – The European Union’s External Action Committee, which manages the EU’s diplomatic relations with other countries and conducts EU foreign and security policy for the 28-country bloc, released a statement today, November 21, calling on the Iran’s security forces to exercise “maximum restraint” in handling the protests throughout the country, noting that “any violence is unacceptable.” Protests broke out across Iran on November …

Al-Monitor – After four days of a near complete internet blackout, Iranian authorities have begun to restore internet connectivity to the country. According to Fars News Agency, the resumption of internet access is being done “gradually” and “province by province.” According to the Fars report, Hormozgan, Arak, Kermanshah, Mashhad, Qom, Tabriz, Hamedan, Bushehr and parts of Tehran are being reconnected. Public acces to the internet was …

Radiofarda – Iran’s Writers’ Association has issued a statement on Thursday, November 21, condemning “violent confrontation” with people’s right to free speech and calling on the Islamic Republic authorities to end the presence of security forces in the streets. Iranian writers and poet gathering in annual general assembly of Iran’s association of writers on February 2018. The statement sent to …

Radiofarda – In a post on his Telegram social media channel on November 20, Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled heir to the throne of Iran, said the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s accusations against protesters who took to the streets in more than a hundred cities and towns in the past week were “cowardly”. Khamenei has repeatedly called the protesters …

Radiofarda – Once again, Iranians have taken to the streets. Spurred initially by cuts in gas subsidies and an increase in petrol prices, up to 100 cities experienced protests, and over 100 people have been killed. Like demonstrations in 2017 –‘18, the outpouring began with an economic spark, but quickly morphed into a full-bore venting of political grievances. What makes …

Al-Arabia – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday praised the Iranian armed forces for taking “timely” action against “rioters” and said calm had returned after days of unrest sparked by a hike in petrol prices. “Incidents, big and small, caused by the rise in petrol price took place in (a little) less than 100 cities across Iran,” said …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have begun restoring Internet access in Tehran and a number of provinces, reports say, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said calm had returned after days of unrest over fuel-price hikes.In a statement on November 21, the IRGC praised the armed forces for taking “timely” action against the “rioters,” adding that the arrest of their …