I think first of all, let’s not forget, this is a very inefficient and bankrupt government – it’s a very corrupt government. So, if they make a contract with a computer company for making anti-information or a filtering software, probably 80 percent of this contract is being paid for bribes, so that end-user product coming from this company is not efficient at all. And I think the people’s will, genuine will, that is efficient – the people who are really doing these small tricks. I´m working, actually, in cyber-security for a D.C.-based Iranian e-learning company, Tavaana; and there, we are teaching the Iranian public and people how to get over Internet filtering.
And sometimes, by my student – I see bright people, somebody who is, I don’t know, 16-years-old, actually from inside Iran – he’s teaching me that by pressing this and this and this and changing some port address, we can have a no filter Internet. You see, this is a government who has a multi-million dollar budget to limit access of young people to the Internet. And there are a couple of young people who have a very strong, genuine will. And I think I don’t need any argument to argue who is going to win this battle because at one part, you have somebody who stands against history; and the other part, you have the generation who wants to know more.
And what I’m very pleased with, and what I’m very happy with, is that from inside the house of the supreme leader, from inside the house of the most influential guard commanders, from inside the house of interrogators, judges, some people who are very much inside the security elements of the system: their daughters, their wife, their young people, their grandchildren – they are trying to use our anti-filtering software to connect to the Internet.
And that’s very promising; that shows a very good future for Iran, because then you see City of Qom, which is the Vatican for Islamic Shia, which is the governing theology in Iran; and you see the number of the tries – the number of the approaches – to get over the filtering and come to the free information, it is number one for City of Qom.
Nima Rashedan was among the first Iranian cyber-activists. Born in Tehran in 1974, his father was a leftist opponent of the government headed by the Shah, so the family was forced into exile in the United States but returned to Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Upon his return, Rashedan became a member of student organizations and worked as a journalist, becoming one of the first writers to publish articles in Farsi on the Internet. In the late 1990s, after the election of President Khatami, he began writing pro-democracy articles.
In 1998, Rashedan was arrested and served time in prison, including a month in solitary confinement. After his release, Rashedan immigrated to Switzerland. He now lives in the Czech Republic and continues his work as a cyber-journalist and advocate. A frequent focus of his work is the similarity between the methods and objectives of the current Iranian regime and those of the former Soviet Union.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world’s only remaining theocratic state, in which political leadership is vested in religious authorities. The Islamic Republic was created in 1979 following a revolution against the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Although many elements of Iranian society led the revolution, ultimately Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers gained control of the country. In December 1979, the country adopted an Islamic constitution providing that “all civil, criminal, financial, economic, administrative, cultural, military, political and all other statutes and regulations be in keeping with Islamic [law].”
Following adoption of the new constitution, Khomeini became the “Supreme Leader,” the ultimate political and religious authority in the country. Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hoseyni Khamenei has been Supreme Leader since Khomeini’s death in 1989. The Supreme Leader is selected by a body of Islamic scholars called the Assembly of Experts. The Supreme Leader is responsible for the military and security concerns of Iran and has the final say on all issues. The president of Iran, who is elected by the public from a list approved by the Guardian Council (a body comprised of clerics and jurists), is nominally responsible for administration of the executive branch and is subject to the authority of the Supreme Leader.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005. Ahmadinejad was viewed as an ultraconservative and his views a stark contrast from the relatively reformist policies of his predecessor, President Mohammad Khatami. Despite promises of equality and fighting corruption, Ahmadinejad and his administration cracked down on civil liberties and more strictly enforced religious-based morality laws.
Ahmadinejad was reelected in 2009 in an election widely viewed as fraudulent. Following the June 2009 election, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the largest protests in the country since 1979, which came to be known as the “Green Revolution.” The government responded to the peaceful protestors with a massive campaign of intimidation, violence, and limits on freedoms. Universities were closed down, media outlets and internet resources censored, and rights to assembly restricted.
In June 2013, Hassan Rouhani was elected President and replaced Ahmadinejad. Rouhani has a reputation as a relatively moderate reformer and has promised additional freedoms and rights. It remains to be seen whether or not these promises will be fulfilled.
According to Freedom House, Iran is one of the least-free countries in the world. In its most recent report, Iran received a score of six in both the political rights and civil liberties categories, where one represents most free and seven represents least free. Iran has been the subject of numerous resolutions at the United Nations condemning the country’s human rights record. Among other things, the government uses summary arrest and execution against its political opponents. The death penalty is applied even for nonviolent crimes, including adultery. Radio and television broadcasting are under the control of the government and provide only government-approved content. Women are denied equal rights in marriage and other areas.