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Iranians facing internet blackouts have been ordered to post pro-government content and hand over a slew of personal information to regain access, according to independent media outlets.
Users were ordered to provide personal details, including home and work addresses, bank account information, pictures of their bank cards, and links to their social media accounts in order to get access restored, according to a report in Iran International, an independent Persian-language news service based in Washington DC.
They were also instructed to sign handwritten pledges not to publish any content harmful to Iran’s “psychological, social or political security,” the report states.
It comes as the regime in Tehran accuses the United States of destroying trust and jeopardizing peace talks.
“We cannot trust the Americans at all,” Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi on Friday, CBS News reported.
Iranians have been forced to make pro-government posts to get their internet access restored. REUTERS“We are now in a ceasefire, although it is very shaky,” he added, claiming that Washington was sending contradictory messages.
“Every day brings a different message, sometimes even two different messages in a single day, which deepens mistrust,” Araghchi said.
As the conflict has continued into a third month, Iran has looked to clamp down harder on its own people.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that his country “cannot trust” the Americans. REUTERSInternet users were warned that their activities were being monitored through “smart surveillance and artificial intelligence systems,” with repeated violators risking judicial actions and heavier punishment.
Some citizens were even ordered to publish at least 20 pro-regime posts on social media, and provide evidence they had done so.
They were ordered to spread the posts out “to make the activity appear natural,” according to the messages.
Others were ordered to attend pro-government rallies at night, photographing themselves carrying the Iranian flag or pictures of dead Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated by the US and Israel in February.
Iran deployed small submarines to the Strait of Hormuz this week to cause more chaos in the vital waterway.
Despite that, the oil-rich nation’s economy is said to be sinking fast, with the country’s new supreme leader forced to beg his people to “be frugal” and stop businesses from laying off workers.
Iran is reportedly now using the Caspian Sea, highways, and a Chinese railroad to bypass the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
English (US)