Science and Technology

Al-Arabia – The Trump administration should encourage US technology companies to provide communication services to Iranians as they protest their country’s clerical rulers, said Reza Pahlavi, the last heir to the Iranian monarchy.

CHRI – For the first time since the mass protests of 2009, the Islamic Republic of Iran has imposed tighter than usual restrictions on internet access to curb the distribution of images, videos and reports about the nationwide protests that began on December 28, 2017. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned that internet access in Iran …

VOA – In 2009, the world watched as Iranians marching in the streets turned to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to organize and share information.

CHRI – For the first time since the mass protests of 2009, the Islamic Republic of Iran has imposed tighter than usual restrictions on internet access to curb the distribution of images, videos and reports about the nationwide protests that began on December 28, 2017. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned that internet access in Iran …

washingtonpost – When it comes to cyberweapons, America is an elephant and Iran is a flea. Still, a flea can be a persistent nuisance, especially for the unprotected.   By David Ignatius Opinion writer December 26 at 6:56 PM A screen grab of the computer virus known as Flame. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES) Iran’s cyber capability is the focus of a detailed study …

PayvandNews – Scientists at Iran’s Royan Research Institute has succeeded in producing the country’s third cloned goat belonging to Murcia-Granada breed of goat.  Dr. Mahdi Hajian, Head of Embryology Department at Isfahan Campus of Royan Research Institute, made the announcement asserting “following successful cloning of Saanen and Alpine goats, we sought to clone a third one from Murcia-Granada breed.” Imported …

Al-Monitor – “Working as a professional journalist is subject to obtaining a journalist’s license from the Media Governance Organization [MGO] of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” This sentence is part of Article 52 of the [MGO] Bill, which is currently being reviewed by the administration’s Cultural Commission. The bill, which has six chapters and 66 articles, was introduced and drafted in …

CHRI – Seven months into President Hassan Rouhani’s second term, his Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has introduced a new pricing scheme for internet usage that violates net neutrality while improving state censorship capabilities. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all online data the same, and provide the conditions for unfettered access. In …

CHRI – Students accused of engaging in peaceful activism continue to be banned from attending university in Iran despite President Hassan Rouhani’s election campaign promise that he would lift the ban. On November 30, 2017, the reformist newspaper Jame-e Farda reported that between 150 and 200 graduate and PhD-level students were blocked from enrolling in Iranian universities in the current …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s recent decision to once again block Waze, a mobile navigation app developed in Israel, has created a great deal of controversy in the country. The GPS-based software had become popular both among the public as well as Iran’s leading ride-hailing apps, Snapp and Tap30. Snapp (founded in 2014) and Tap30 (founded in 2016) — known as the …