By: PMOI/MEK staff writer

May 1, 2018 —  On Monday, April 30, the Iranian regime’s judiciary officially banned the usage of the Telegram messaging under the excuse of protecting national security. Telegram has more than 40 million users in Iran.

Given its secure nature and the regime’s inability to control and monitor its communications, Telegram has become the application of choice for dissidents and activists. During the recent nationwide uprisings, the PMOI’s network inside Iran used the messaging app to organize and send news, images and videos of protests. The regime has tried to persuade the nonprofit running the application to transfer its servers inside Iran, but has so far been unsuccessful.

The implementation of the ban comes on the eve of Labor Day. The network of PMOI activists in Iran have made calls for protests and the regime fears the eruption of another nationwide uprising, especially as workers are among the most disenfranchised and underrepresented classes in the society.

The Iranian regime has tried to push the population to use domestic-made apps, developed by companies that have ties to the Revolutionary Guards and other regime bodies. Soroush, the most popular of such apps, is known for its security vulnerabilities and for giving away the identity and privacy of its users. In response to the regime’s ban, users have been flocking to VPNs and other circumvention tools to be able to continue using Telegram.

Mohamad Javad Azari Jahromi, the regime’s minister of communications, admitted on Tuesday that efforts to ban Telegram have been futile. “The facts show that Russia’s defeat in banning Telegram might repeat itself in Iran,” Jahromi said.

Many companies in Iran use the app as a ways to deliver services and blocking it will cause damage to their businesses. The regime, which is vainly trying to maintain its hold on power, is effectively caught in a catch 22 situation: Banning the application is likely to strike further protest by people whose daily business depends on it while leaving it open will enable protesters to further organize and rally against the regime.