Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.6
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran has no plans to block mobile messaging networks, such as Viber, Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said.
"We do not intend to block or slow down the speed of messaging networks which are used by the public," Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Vaezi as saying on October 6.
In response to the final order by the judiciary to close down mobile messaging services such as WhatsApp, Viber and Tango, Vaezi said on October 1 that it would have no effect. "Our technical studies indicate that the number of social networks such as WhatsApp, Viber and Tango is so numerous that shutting them down is not the solution."
In cooperation with the judiciary we have to find a common solution for the problem, he added.
The Ministry of Communications and Judiciary Deputy Gholam-Ali Mohseni-Ejei have been in a public battle over these services. Vaezi has ignored previous calls to close down WhatsApp, prompting Mohseni-Ejei on Sept. 20 to issue a public deadline of one month to close it down, along with Viber and Tango.