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Monday, May 30, 2016
Excerpts: Iran asks social media handover data on citizens. Iran bans own citizens from Hajj May 30, 2016

Excerpts: Iran asks social media handover data on citizens. Iran bans own
citizens from Hajj May 30, 2016

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 30 May ’16:”Iran asks social media to handover
data of its citizens” ,by Reuters,Irna,Agence France Presse

SUBJECT :Iran asks social media handover data on citizens

QUOTE: “Social media users reacted with concern to the planned changes”

FULL TEXT:Iran has set a one-year deadline for foreign social media to hand
over data on their Iranian users, state news agency IRNA said Sunday[29
May].

Iran has given foreign messaging apps a year to move data they hold about
Iranian users onto
servers inside the country, prompting privacy and security concerns on
social media.

Iran has some of the strictest controls on internet access in the world and
blocks access to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter,
although many users are able to access them through widely available
software.

"Foreign messaging companies active in the country are required to transfer
all data and activity linked to Iranian citizens into the country in order
to ensure their continued activity," Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace
said in new regulations carried by state news agency IRNA on Sunday.

The council, whose members are selected by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, gave social media companies a year to comply, IRNA said,
adding that the measures were based on the "guidelines and concerns of the
supreme leader".

The new requirements could affect messaging app Telegram in particular. The
cloud-based instant messaging service has gained popularity because of its
high level of security and is estimated to have about 20 million users in
Iran, which has a total population of about 80 million.

In November authorities said they had arrested administrators of more than
20 groups on Telegram for spreading "immoral content" as part of a clampdown
on freedom of expression.

Social media users reacted with concern to the planned changes.

"Telegram's data centres are to be moved inside the country so they can
delete what they want and arrest who they want," @Mehrdxd said in a tweet.

"I would stop using #Telegram if the servers are moved inside the country
because it would not be safe anymore," @Gonahkar (Guilty) wrote in a tweet.

The measure will affect, in particular, Telegram, an instant messaging app
with more than 20 million users in the Islamic republic, a country of 80
million people.

IRNA said the committee had also decided to work to develop home-grown
social media to compete with foreign networks.

Authorities in Iran, where Facebook and Twitter are officially banned
although users can gain access with easily available software, have for
years tried to impose curbs on Iranians using social media.



+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya News 30 May’16:”Iran insists on banning own citizens
from Hajj”,by Agence France Presse & Al Arabiya News

SUBJECT: Iran bans own citizens from Hajj

QUOTE: “Iranian …attempts to politicize the ocasion

FULL TEXT:Saudi Arabia on Sunday[29Nay ’16:” denounced as "unacceptable"
Iranian demands over its pilgrims joining the annual Islamic hajj this year,
after Tehran accused Riyadh of raising obstacles.

"Iran has demanded the right to organize... demonstrations and to have
privileges... that would cause chaos during the hajj. This is unacceptable,"
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in a joint press briefing with his
British counterpart Philip Hammond.

Tehran said earlier on Sunday[29 May] that Iranians will miss the pilgrimage
this year to Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia, and accused Riyadh of
"blocking the path to Allah".

“After two series of negotiations without any results because of obstacles
raised by the Saudis, Iranian pilgrims will unfortunately not be able to
take part in the hajj" pilgrimage, expected this year in September, Iranian
culture minister Ali Jannati told state television.

Jubeir said Saudi Arabia annually signs a hajj memorandum of understanding
with more than 70 countries "to guarantee the security and safety of
pilgrims".

"This year, Iran refused to sign the memorandum," he said, arguing that
Riyadh has agreed to facilitate the travel arrangements of Iranian pilgrims
despite having no diplomatic ties or air links.

"It is very negative if Iran's intention from the start was to manoeuvre and
find excuses, in order to prevent its citizens from performing the hajj," he
said.

"If it is about measures and procedures, I think we have done more than our
duty to meet those needs, but it is the Iranians who have rejected things,"
he added.

Saudi officials have said an Iranian delegation wrapped up a visit to the
kingdom on Friday[28 May] without reaching a final agreement on arrangements
for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic.

The Saudi hajj ministry said it had offered "many solutions" to meet a
string of demands made by the Iranians in two days of talks.

Agreement had been reached in some areas, including to use electronic visas
which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions
remain shut in Iran, it said.

Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January after Iranian demonstrators torched
its embassy and a consulate following its execution of a prominent Shiite
preacher.

Earlier this month, Iran had accused its regional rival of seeking to
"sabotage" the hajj, a pillar of Islam that devout Muslims must perform at
least once during their lifetime if they are able.

Tehran said Riyadh had insisted that visas for Iranians be issued in a third
country and would not allow pilgrims to be flown aboard Iranian aircraft.

But the Saudi hajj ministry said Friday[27 May] that Riyadh had agreed to
allow Iranians to obtain visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which
has looked after Saudi interests since ties were severed in January.

Riyadh also agreed to allow some Iranian carriers to fly pilgrims to the
kingdom despite a ban imposed on Iranian airlines following the diplomatic
row between the two countries, the ministry said.

Last week's talks were the second attempt by the two countries to reach a
deal on organizing this year's pilgrimage for Iranians after an unsuccessful
first round held in April in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi ministry said at the time that the Iranian Hajj Organization would
be held responsible "in front of God and the people for the inability of its
pilgrims to perform hajj this year."

Riyadh –based journalist Yahya Al-Amir told Al Arabiya News Channel’s Four
O'clock bulletin that the Iranian leadership’s refusal to sign the hajj
agreement reflects its attempts to politicize the religious occasion.

Among Arab and Islamic states, Al-Amir said Iran was the only country that
refused the agreement, adding that the motive behind that is political.

The journalist claimed that if the Iranian leadership was unable to exploit
Hajj for political reasons “then the regime in Tehran absolutely does not
want pilgrimage.”
==========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA

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