Source: iJET International

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Officials Ban Messaging Application throughout Government Institutions: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shut down the Telegram messaging application channel his office was using to disseminate messages to the Iranian people, April 18. Khamenei cited protecting the country's national interest among reasons for the change. Khamenei's office also announced that the supreme leader was quitting Telegram to support of local messaging applications, such as Soroush. The country's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri also purportedly stopped using Telegram and has sent a memorandum to government institutions ordering them to do the same.

Analysis: The restrictions on government employees using Telegram is a clear step toward shutting down the application in the country altogether. The platform is popular in Iran, in part, because it is a foreign outlet, which makes it hard for authorities to monitor its communications. Khamenei named 2018 as the year of "Support for Iranian Products" in his Nowruz speech March 21 and has asked people to consume and buy products that are manufactured and produced in Iran over foreign goods in an attempt to improve the economy. However, the likely stronger motivation behind Khamenei's move away from Telegram is to limit access to platforms that the government cannot properly control. Social media outlets - particularly Telegram - have been critical tools for organizing the anti-government protests that have been occurring throughout the country in recent weeks.