On June 2, the United States sanctioned Arvan Cloud, two of its executives, and an affiliated technology company for developing an alternative to the Internet that would allow the government to control or censor content available inside Iran. The technology also restricted Iranians from getting access to the global Internet. The Arvan Cloud network has closely cooperated with two powerful government agencies–the Ministry of Intelligence and Security as well as the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. The Islamic Republic took even stricter measures to restrict internet access after four months of protests erupted in September 2022.
The sanctions were “just one component in our multi-pronged strategy to support and preserve the free flow of information to the Iranian people in the face of the Iranian regime’s unprecedented campaign of Internet disruptions and censorship, part of a broader crackdown on dissent,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. The United States would continue to “use all tools” at its disposal to “promote accountability for violations and abuses of human rights and actions that enable the mass suppression and censorship of the Iranian people.”
The United States designated the following men and firms:
Navyan Abr Arvan Private Limited Company (Arvan Cloud), an Iranian firm that helped the government develop a censored alternative to the global Internet known as the National Information Network.
Pouya Pirhosseinloo, co-founder and CEO of Arvan Cloud.
Farhad Fatemi, co-founder, tech lead, and senior site reliability engineer of Arvan Cloud.
ArvanCloud Global Technologies L.L.C., an affiliate of Arvan Cloud based in the United Arab Emirates.
The sanctions froze all assets of the designated people and company in the United States and restricted any transactions using dollars or the American financial system. They were issued under Executive Order 13846, which authorized designations for censorship and related activities in Iran. The following are statements from the State and Treasury Departments.
Second publication by courtesy of The Iran Imprimer, Original-Text
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