Tehran blocks access to Facebook

Facebook expressed disappointment over the ban

Iran has briefly blocked access to social networking site Facebook ahead of June's presidential elections.

The move was aimed at stopping supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi from using the site for his campaign.

Facebook, which says it has 175m users worldwide, expressed its disappointment over the reported ban.

Tehran reinstated access to the website after a few hours, but made no official comment about the censoring.

'Access not possible'

"Access to the Facebook site was prohibited several days ahead of the presidential elections," Iranian news agency Ilna reported.
Mousavi registers at the interior ministry in Tehran
Mr Mousavi was Iran's prime minister when the post was abolished in 1989

It said that "according to certain Internet surfers, the site was banned because supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were using Facebook to better disseminate the candidate's positions".

CNN staff in Tehran reported that people attempting to visit the site received a message in Farsi that said: "Access to this site is not possible."

Facebook expressed disappointment that its site was apparently blocked in Iran "at a time when voters are turning to the Internet as a source of information about election candidates and their positions".

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, is seen as one of the leading challengers to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 12 June elections.

His page on Facebook has more than 5,000 supporters.

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Iran bans Facebook ahead of election
Iran has blocked the use of the popular social networking site Facebook in a move critics claim is an attempt to muzzle the opposition ahead of next month's election.


Last Updated: 2:27PM BST 24 May 2009
Iran has blocked the use of the popular social networking site Facebook
Iran has blocked the use of the popular social networking site Facebook Photo: PA

Blogs and websites have become an important campaign tool for Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist candidate, to mobilise Iran's critical youth vote before the June 12 ballot.

Iranian authorities often block anything on the internet considered critical of the Islamic regime, but the timing of the latest move suggested it was done to target opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Mohammed Ali Abtahi, a former vice president, said: "Facebook is one of the only independent sources that the Iranian youth could use to communicate."

Abtahi said the loss of Facebook – and possibly other web sites popular with reformists – will leave Iranians "forced to rely on government sources" such as state-run media before the election.

Ahmadinejad is in a four-way race for re-election with two pro-reform candidates and fellow conservative Mohsen Rezaei.

The internet and other technology have increasingly become part of Iranian political movements in the past decade.

During the last presidential race in 2005, information about rallies and campaign updates were sent by text message. In recent years, political blogs by Iranians in the country and abroad have grown sharply.

Iranian officials did not comment on the reported block.

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Iran's Rezai says he can stop Israel with 'one strike'
Updated at: 1430 PST, Sunday, May 24, 2009
TEHRAN: Iran's former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezai warned on Sunday he could stop Israel with "one strike" and said it would not dare to threaten the Islamic republic if he is elected president.

"My government... understands missiles and tanks as well as foreign policy and knows exactly where Israel's sensitive spots are. It could stop them forever with one strike,"

Rezai told a news conference. "If government falls into our hands Israel will not dare threaten Iran because the Israelis and the Americans know us and our friends," said Rezai, who is one of three candidates challenging President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 election.