Iranian president eases social media restrictions

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that the recent protests were partly caused by ambitions for political and social change.

Mr Rouhani, who defeated anti-western hardliners in the election last year, called for curbs on social media, which was used by anti-government demonstrators, to be lifted. He also dismissed calls to permanently block access to social media and messaging apps.

“It would be a misrepresentation and also an insult to Iranian people to say they only had economic demands,” Mr Rouhani said. “People had economic, political and social demands.”

The government has lifted restrictions it imposed on Instagram, but access to the more widely used messaging app Telegram was still blocked.

“People’s access to social media should not permanently be restricted,” Mr Rouhani said. “We cannot be indifferent to people’s lives.”

The protests that erupted on December 28 in Iran’s second city of Mashhad were initially focused on economic hardships but quickly became anti-regime rallies and spread to other cities.

At least 21 people were killed and hundreds arrested in the week-long unrest.

Officials said that those arrested would face trial and those found to be ringleaders would face serious sentences, including the death penalty.

An Iranian politician, Tayabeh Siaveshi, said yesterday that one detainee died in prison. “This 22-year-old young man was arrested by the police,” Mr Siaveshi said. “I was informed that he has committed suicide in jail.”

Iranian vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar said yesterday that Mr Rouhani was insisting that all detained students be released.

The education minister, Mohammed Bathaei, echoed the call and urged the authorities to release the students before exams.

Mr Rouhani reiterated yesterday that citizens should be allowed to criticise their officials, without exception.

The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is com-

mander-in-chief of the armed forces and appoints the heads of the judiciary.

Ministers are selected with his agreement and he has the ultimate say on Iran’s foreign policy. By comparison, the president has little power.

“No one is innocent and people are allowed to criticise everyone,” Mr Rouhani said.

Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron discussed the anti-government protests in Iran.

The White House said on Sunday that Mr Trump and Mr Macron discussed issues including developments on the Korean Peninsula and Iran.

“The presidents also agreed that the demonstrations in Iran were a sign of the regime’s failure to serve its people’s needs by diverting the nation’s wealth to fund terrorism and militancy abroad,” the White House said.

Germany’s foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that the EU would invite Iran’s minister for foreign affairs, Mohammad Zarif, for discussions on the protests.

But Mr Gabriel said Berlin would not follow the lead of Mr Trump, who pledged to help Iranians “take back” their government.