US Moves to Allow Tech Firms to Help Iranians Access Internet Info Amid Iran’s Internet Blackout

Blinken stated that the Treasury Department issued a general license, which allows certain transactions, which would otherwise be banned under sanctions.

This is to “promote our efforts and commitments in order to ensure that the Iranian population can freely access information online.”

He said, “We are taking the step against a stark background.” “The Iranian government has blocked access to the Internet to most of its 80,000,000 citizens in order to stop them and the rest of the world from witnessing its violent crackdown against peaceful protestors.”

“(W)e will help ensure that the Iranian people aren’t kept in the dark and isolated.” He said that this is a concrete way to support Iranians in demanding their fundamental rights be respected.

The Treasury Department states that the general license allows for more software and services to be offered, “to include social media platforms and collaboration platforms as well as cloud-based service,” and gives “additional authorization to services that support communication tools to help ordinary Iranians resist repressive internet surveillance tools and internet censorship,” and “removes the requirement to verify that communications are ‘personal.

The Treasury stated that it also continues to authorize antivirus and antimalware software, anti-tracking and mobile operating systems, anti-censorship software, anti-censorship software and related tools; virtual private network (VPN client software) and related programs.

This announcement came a day after the US placed sanctions against Iran’s Morality Police. Amiri was taken into custody and died.