Iranian minister at loggerheads with ayatollahs over Internet access

Iran's communication minister has picked another fight with the country's hardliners over Internet censorship.

"Some are of the opinion that you should break off contact to the outside world for ideological independence," Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi told the Sunday edition of the Hamshahri newspaper. This was the wrong approach, according to the minister.

While Jahromi did not dispute that the Internet has negative aspects, the solution was "not to build walls around the country and block everything, but instead to create more tolerance," he was quoted as saying.

At 37 years old, Jahromi is not only the youngest, but also the most popular member of President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet. He has earned support mainly for campaigning for greater Internet freedoms in the Islamic Republic since he took office in August 2017.

He has repeatedly clashed with the country's powerful ultra-conservative clerics as a result. In February, state prosecutors charged him with "Internet espionage" for allegedly failing to uphold certain rules and as a result allowing Iran's enemies to abuse data from the country for their own political gain.

"No problem and no reason to panic," was the minister's response to the allegations.    (dpa)