Iran "opens up" to Western media

(Baonghean) - On Sunday, March 1, Fars news agency quoted a senior Iranian official as saying that Iran is preparing to allow the US company Google and several other Internet service companies to operate in the country on the condition that the companies must respect Iranian culture.

In an interview with Fars newspaper, Mr. Nasrollah Jahangard - Deputy Minister of Telecommunications of Iran said: "We are ready to let Google as well as some other media companies provide Internet services" by allowing the installation of servers of the above companies in the country.

Iran allows US company Google and several other Internet service companies to operate in the country. Photo: AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez

However, Mr. Jahangard also affirmed that the sanctions imposed by the West on Iran over its nuclear program could “create problems for American companies.” “While American companies are still waiting for the legal situation in Iran to be resolved, other foreign companies are also starting negotiations with Iran,” Mr. Jahangard said, without giving any further details.

In Iran, since the large protests in June 2009 against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country has blocked many political or pornographic websites and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It is known that there are about 40 million Internet users out of a total population of 78 million in Iran.

But for the past two years, Iran has allowed users to access “selected and controlled” social networking sites, rather than blocking all websites with content that is against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition, Iranian authorities have issued a number of decrees allowing the tracking of illegal content and the arrest of blog leaders who call for protests. And recently, Iran has continued to launch its own search engine on the Internet called Yooz.ir with servers located in the country.

Iran’s decision is seen by many analysts as a positive sign for the negotiations next Thursday. On March 5, Iran and the “P5+1” group of countries including the UK, France, the US, Russia, China and Germany will continue negotiations on a historic deal to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is used only for civilian and peaceful purposes. If the negotiations are successful, Western countries will ease sanctions that are “suffocating” Iran’s economy. Currently, both sides are trying to reach an agreement before March 31.

Chu Thanh

(According to Le Monde 1/3)