The Treasury Department is easing restrictions around internet communications in Iran as protests continue in the country, adding social media, video-conferencing, and online learning and gaming to its list of allowed services.
(Bloomberg) — The Treasury Department is easing restrictions around internet communications in Iran as protests continue in the country, adding social media, video-conferencing, and online learning and gaming to its list of allowed services.
New guidance released Friday expands the list of services US people and companies can provide in Iran despite broad sanctions that prohibit most foreign business.
The guidance was released a week after demonstrations began over the fate of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly flouting Islamic dress codes.
“The United States is redoubling its support for the free flow of information to the Iranian people,” Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
“With these changes, we are helping the Iranian people be better equipped to counter the government’s efforts to surveil and censor them.”
Iran cut off internet access to 80 million people and follows recent speculation about whether Elon Musk’s Starlink company would be able to operate in the country.
The Treasury Department says satellite Internet services such as Starlink are allowed but some types of equipment, including certain types of satellite receivers, still require a specific license before they can be exported to Iran.
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“In the face of these steps, we are going to help make sure the Iranian people are not kept isolated and in the dark,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
“This is a concrete step to provide meaningful support to Iranians demanding that their basic rights be respected.”
The Treasury Department is adding social media, video-conferencing and cloud-based computing to its list of cleared activities and is removing a condition that communications be “personal.” That condition made it too hard for companies to verify the purpose of communications.
It’s also adding online maps, automated translation, web maps and user authentication services to the list.
The department is also expanding its case-by-case licensing policy, which it says is meant to allow Iranian developers to create the anti-surveillance and anti-censorship apps used by many people there to circumvent government controls on the Internet.
The new guidelines are contained in General License D-2.
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