The countdown has started for the disappearance of Telegram instant messaging app as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office said his account would shut down to protect national security. Similarly, VP Eshaq Jahangiri said that his office will longer update his channel and that it will use other native platforms instead.
President Hassan Rouhani announced that he too was giving up Telegram shortly after issuing a directive banning the government and administration workers from using foreign messenger apps to communicate.
“In line with safeguarding national interests and removing the monopoly of the Telegram messaging network, the website for the preservation and publication of the works of Khamenei will stop its activities in this network from this moment,” said the last message on Khamenei’s Telegram channel.
It directed users to accounts on Iranian messaging services, including Soroush and Gap, which the authorities are trying to promote.
First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and foreign ministry spokesperson Bahram Ghassemi also closed their Telegram accounts on Wednesday, IRNA reported.
On Sunday, the ministry of education banned the use of foreign social media networks in schools.
Tehran imposed a ban on Telegram when protests spread across dozens of cities in the beginning of the current year. Authorities accused it of allowing “counter-revolutionary” groups to fuel unrest.
Facebook and Twitter are less used in Iran – they are only accessible via the virtual private network (VPN).
Khamenei’s office didn’t announce any intention to give up the Twitter five accounts (Persian, English, Arabic, Spanish and French).
