NCRI – SMS messages have been severely disrupted in Iran as paranoid rulers fear people will use mobile communications to organize election protests.
The axing of the text message service comes after mullahs last month ordered internet speeds to be slowed and satellite dishes confiscated before the June sham presidential election in Iran.
The country’s state-run media said SMS restrictions were occurring on all three mobile networks, adding: “The country’s internet network has had a decrease in speed and faced disconnections and so far no authority has given reasons for this.
“And now after all these disruptions for internet users, it is the turn of SMS users.”
Since early April, many areas of Iran have complained of a very slow or disconnected Internet service – and complete lack of access to many websites for more than two months.
The Telecommunication Infrastructure Company blamed the poor service on problems with cables from Sweden, and pledged that the problem will soon be resolved.
Iran’s Internet connection speed has become an indicator of the political situation and the government alert level. On the eve of dates or anniversaries that could give rise to demonstrations, the connection speed is slowed right down to prevent the circulation of photos and videos.
In the 2009 uprising, many protesters used the internet to send video footage outside the country, prompting the regime to paralyse online services to prevent news reaching the outside world.
