TEHRAN, Iran — From a computer keyboard in London, an Iranian emigre plays the role of counselor, social media guru and all-around adviser for Internet users back home seeking ways around the cyberblocks set up by authorities in Tehran. These have been busy days.
His Twitter account — which goes under the handle of Nariman Gharib — registers a steady stream of calls for help from Iran and responses about new proxy servers, dial-up modems and other possible workarounds. The goal is to defeat Iran’s Internet clampdowns, which have intensified in the approach to presidential elections on June 14.
“Here is a new link for Siphon,” he wrote, describing a site that directs users to a server outside Iran. Minutes later, replies stream back that it worked on Android systems but not PCs. He sent a tweaked Web address.
“Hope this works,” he wrote.
State controls on the Internet in Iran are nothing new. Authorities have steadily tried to choke off social media and political opposition sites — among others — since they became tools for protesters alleging vote rigging after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election four years ago.
Now, with the election to pick Ahmadinejad’s successor looming, the constraints are drawing even tighter. Iranian authorities appear to be stepping up their efforts to block the pathways to servers outside Iran that open access to outlawed sites such as Facebook, the BBC’s Persian service and websites from what’s left of Iran’s opposition Green Movement.
The Internet squeeze signifies more than a display of widening state controls before an election that is almost certain to bring an establishment-friendly winner. It’s also another showcase of Iran’s expanding online prowess led by the powerful Revolutionary Guards.
A special Web-watching corps established two years ago has the mission of patrolling the domestic Internet and fighting suspected cyberwars with the West and its allies. Some say it even creates false activist profiles to try to ferret out dissidents.
Iran is believed by many security experts to be behind computer-virus attacks last year on Saudi Arabian state oil giant Saudi Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas. Last week, The New York Times reported that Iran is considered a chief suspect in a series of malware breaches into U.S. energy companies, citing American officials and corporate security experts. Iran has repeatedly denied similar claims.
But Iran also has been hit by viruses it claims were launched by the U.S. and Israel. A date-siphoning program known as Flame forced Iran’s Oil Ministry to completely shut down its computer system last year. Three years ago, Iran’s uranium-enrichment labs were penetrated by a virus called Stuxnet, which was tailored to disrupt Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.
Iranian authorities have not commented directly on any possible new Web controls. Some lawmakers have suggested that Web restrictions are needed to prevent “enemies” — a reference to U.S. and allies — from influencing the election.
Iran election Q&A
Q: Does the election matter?
A: Yes, but not in the ways many people think. Iran’s president does not set the country’s major policies such as the nuclear program, relations with the West or military projects. All this falls under the ruling clerics headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The president acts as the main emissary for the theocracy’s positions.
Q: Will the outcome affect iran’s nuclear program?
A: It won’t have a direct effect. The president cannot make any critical changes or concessions. Indirectly, though, the election can have some influence.
One theory is that the election could end the internal political bickering of the Ahmadinejad era. A second prediction is that a seamless front between the ruling clerics and the new president could embolden Iran to take an even more hard-line approach.
Q: Who can vote?
A: There are more than 50 million eligible voters in a population of about 76 million. About a third of the voters are under 30 — born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Minimum voting age is 18.
Q: Is it fair?
A: The main criticism by the West is over the candidate-vetting process. Also, the question of whether the final vote is accurate brings divided opinions. The Associated Press
