Science and Technology

Iran-HRM – The state-run Fars news agency cited Iran’s Police Chief on March 29, as saying that the internet should be managed inside the country.

Radiofarda – Iran is likely to ban the popular messaging application Telegram by the end of the current Iranian month (April 20), the Iranian Parliament’s news agency, ICANA, quoted prominent MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi as saying on March 31.

Radiofarda – Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, Iranian MP and chairman of the Citizenship Rights Committee, says Iranians don’t trust messaging applications developed inside the country, and attempting to control the Internet is futile.

RFL/RE – U.S. authorities have charged nine Iranians and an Iranian company in what they say was a hacking scheme that stole “massive amounts” of data from hundreds of universities, dozens of companies, and parts of the U.S. government on behalf of the Iranian government.

rferl.org – The United States has had “constructive” talks with France, Britain, and Germany about creating a side agreement to the Iran nuclear deal but is making contingency plans should the effort fail, the lead U.S. negotiator has said.

Al-Monitor – One of the current concerns of international companies planning to do business in Iran is the threat of a US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the reintroduction of US secondary sanctions. While EU officials are trying to think of mechanisms to counter potential future sanctions against European companies and banks, the more important …

Radiofarda – Once more, conservatives in Iran are ramping up pressure on President Hassan Rouhani’s government to block the messaging app Telegram.

RFL/RE – Iranians hungry for the latest in Western gadgetry got an abrupt shock on March 15 when they were unable to access a key distribution platform for Apple-friendly software.

Iran-HRM – The head of the National Center for Cyberspace said that they would filter Telegram if they reached the conclusion that it was needed. According to reports, communication and information technology officials constantly emphasize the need to replace foreign messengers with internal ones due to the speed and quality of interior messengers, in addition to security and economic reasons. …

Iran-HRM – Blogger and Baluch political activist Sakhi Rigi, who is detained in Ahwaz Prison, is serving his 9th year of prison. He wrote a letter from prison detailing his condition. The blogger was sentenced to 20 years of prison in 2009 for “publishing lies,” and “acting against national security.” This is one of the heaviest sentences given to a blogger …