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The reformist government of Masoud Pezeshkian has lifted Iran’s ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, the first step in easing internet restrictions in the country of 85 million people.
A high-level meeting chaired by President Pezeshkian on Tuesday overcame resistance from hardline factions within the Islamic regime as the government sought to ease pressure on civil society, according to Iranian media reports.
Iranian Telecommunications Minister Sattar Hashemi wrote on
Pezeshkian previously refused to enforce a headscarf law recently approved by the hardline parliament, which would impose harsher penalties on women who choose not to adhere to strict dress codes.
His administration also quietly reinstated dozens of university students and professors who had previously been barred from studying or teaching.
The Islamic regime is grappling with growing economic, political and social pressures at home and across the Middle East, especially after the unexpected collapse of its main regional ally, the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Regimes have a long history of withstanding crises and maintaining power. But the convergence of domestic and foreign challenges raises questions about whether leadership will respond by tightening population controls or embracing reforms.
Hard-liners view the Internet as a tool used by adversaries such as the United States and Israel to wage a “soft war” against the Islamic Republic. Reformists believed that repression would only exacerbate popular discontent.
Pezeshkian won the presidential election in July on a campaign promise to improve economic and social conditions, with a particular focus on easing restrictions on women’s clothing and lifting online censorship.
Hardliners have imposed restrictions on platforms including X, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram, but Iranians continue to access them through VPNs widely used in the domestic market.
Reformist politicians have accused hardliners of hypocrisy, claiming some of them both enforce online censorship and profit from selling VPNs through alleged ties to companies that provide them.
Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a pro-reform university professor who was recently reinstated, described Tuesday’s decision as a “positive and hopeful” “first step”. However, he added, “It shouldn’t be limited to these two platforms.”
