The United States imposed sanctions on Iran’s Communications and Information Minister Mohammad Jawad Azari Jaromi, the U.S. Treasury’s Foreign Assets Control Office said.
According to the Ministry, sanctions against the Minister were imposed for “his role in the large-scale Internet censorship done by the Iranian regime”, in particular for blocking the Internet for several days amid protests in the country. The US Treasury considers Jaromi himself an active supporter of Internet censorship and accuses him of spying on opposition activists.
In recent days, protests have been held in several cities in Iran over a sharp increase in gas prices by the authorities. Some of them, according to local media, were peaceful, and some developed into armed riots. At the same time, victims were reported both among the participants of the riots and the security forces. After that a series of marches against the riots was held in a number of cities. According to President Hassan Rouhani, the riots were organized by the United States and Israel, and their goal was to undermine Iran’s security.
In the light of the unrest that began on November 15, the Supreme National Security Council of Iran decided to restrict access to the network in the country. Problems with the Internet began to be felt the next day, November 16th.
Earlier, an official representative of the Iranian government, Ali Rabii, said that the Internet connection in Iran will be restored gradually – as a calm situation in the country’s regions is established. On Thursday, the Internet began to be restored in the country; communications appeared in a number of provinces.