Tehran, Dec 25: Iran's government on Tuesday said it had lifted a ban on access to WhatsApp and Google Play after more than two years, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The report said the country's Supreme Council of Cyber Space made the decision in a meeting led by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has vowed to remove restrictions on social media.
Iran's telecommunication minister Sattar Heshemi in a post on X called the decision a “first step” in removing restrictions and said “the path will continue" — indicating the possibility of unblocking other services.
Many people reached by The Associated Press across the capital, Tehran, and other cities said they had access to the services on computers but not yet on mobile phones.
WhatsApp has been the third most popular messaging platform in Iran after Instagram and Telegram.
The ban on WhatsApp and Google Play was put in place in 2022 during mass protests against the government over the death of a woman held by the country's morality police for allegedly violating the strictly enforced dress code. The protests calmed in 2023 after a crackdown by police and security forces that led to the death of hundreds of people and the imprisonment of thousands.
Iran has blocked access to various social media platforms over the years but many people in the country use proxies and VPNs to access them.
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Mysuru, Jul 27 (PTI): A MDMA drug manufacturing facility was raided here by Maharashtra police in coordination with the Mysuru City police, police sources said on Sunday.
MDMA or ecstasy was reportedly being manufactured at the facility. A large quantity of the drug was seized during the raid on Saturday, they said.
Four persons have been arrested and have been taken to Mumbai, police sources said.
Home Minister G Parameshwara confirmed the raid by the Maharashtra police in coordination with Mysuru police.
Speaking to reporters in Davangere, he said, "In Mysuru an MDMA manufacturing facility was raided by Mumbai police. Based on the information they got from a person arrested by them, they came and requested our police. They have caught some people. This is really worrying. Further action is being taken."
Parameshwara said an investigation will be conducted and, based on the information gathered, action will be taken.
Karnataka police will also investigate. "This has happened in our state. Where have all they supplied? How long have they been functioning? Was it newly started? All those things will be looked into. It is said that they were functioning for 20 days. Maybe they were active earlier too. Our police will also inquire," he said.