Cartoon by Elham Azar

Iranian Lawmaker Admits Parliament Members Use Unfiltered Internet

IranWire: Iranian MP Ahmad Ardestani has confirmed that all members of parliament have access to unfiltered internet, following recent revelations that certain groups in Iran enjoy unrestricted connectivity.

“All parliament members have an unfiltered internet,” he said.

The lawmaker, who serves on the National Security Commission, also confirmed that “many organizations such as intelligence and security agencies” use so-called white SIM cards - direct internet connections that bypass government filters.

Ardestani attributed some lawmakers’ opposition to lifting internet filtering to their involvement in what he called the “VPN mafia.”

He said “many people want filtering to exist because they want to sell VPNs and do business.”

In a separate interview with Etemad newspaper, he said the VPN market has a high financial turnover and is controlled by “a mafia.”

A new feature on the social media platform X recently exposed that many government officials, political activists, journalists and media figures affiliated with the Islamic Republic - who previously claimed they accessed their accounts using VPNs - actually operate through unrestricted internet access known as “class-based internet” or “white SIM cards.”

The feature also revealed that several well-known accounts claiming to be opposition figures, and alleging affiliation with groups opposed to the Islamic Republic, were in fact being updated directly from inside Iran.