- An Iranian lawmaker blames the “VPN mafia” for Iran’s Telegram ban
- Negotiations have reportedly taken place to lift the ban
- Iranians have not been able to access Telegram without a VPN since 2018
Despite Iran being said to be ready to lift the 7-year ban on Telegram, the messaging platform remains restricted in the country. The culprit? The financial interests associated with the sale of VPNs, according to an Iranian lawmaker.
As reported by Iran International, the secretary of the parliament’s industry and mining committee, Mostafa Pourdehghan, said the “VPN mafia” is lobbying against the lifting of restrictions.
“The financial revenue of VPNs is about 50 trillion tomans (about $450 million), and the recipients hide behind sacred slogans like national security to benefit from continued filtering,” he said.
The debate surrounding the Telegram ban has resurfaced over the past week. Multiple reports suggest that Iran is currently in talks with Telegram officials to find a compromise to bring Pavel Durov’s platform back online.
“Some colleagues in the Ministry of Communications have unofficially told us that Telegram will be lifted soon,” Pourdehghan said, adding that a parliamentary “investigation and background inspection” of pressure to lift the ban is now underway.
After imposing temporary restrictions in 2017, Iran blocked Telegram in May 2018 on national security grounds amid a wave of strikes that flared up across the country. Citizens have not been able to access the app without one of the best VPNs ever since.
Iran’s VPN Boom
For many years, Iran has enforced tight controls over what citizens can and cannot access on the Internet.
However, in December 2024, the government eased some of these internet restrictions when it brought WhatsApp and Google Play back online. Still, most social media platforms remain banned in the country.
According to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, Facebook, X and YouTube have been restricted since 2009 – over 15 years now. Instagram, which was blocked during the 2022 protests, and WhatsApp (again) also remain restricted at the time of writing.
Such a level of internet censorship has pushed an increasing number of citizens towards bypassing software, such as virtual private network (VPN) tools.
According to an August report by the Tehran E-Commerce Association, nearly 90% of Iranians now use a VPN to bypass widespread internet disruptions.
Iranian VPN usage continues to rise despite ongoing fighting. In February 2024, a law was enforced that prohibits VPN use without legal permission. Iran continues to block VPN traffic as much as possible, topping the VPN censorship list across official app stores in 2024.
As a Proton spokesperson told Techradar, despite Iran blocking VPNs, the country remains on Proton VPN’s top 10 list of free VPN users. “Many Iranians are cut off from global financial networks, making it difficult for them to pay for VPN services,” the Swiss firm said.
Still, while many popular VPN services, such as Proton VPN, have been developed by foreign providers, Iranian companies have also entered the market to take advantage of the increased VPN demand – an industry believed to earn approximately $500 million each year.
How likely is Iran to lift the Telegram ban?
Whether or not Iran’s VPN industry is behind the push to keep internet filters in place, bringing Telegram back online appears to be a challenge.
Iran’s conditions for lifting the ban include an obligation for Telegram to limit ethnically provocative content, cooperate with Iran’s judiciary on data requests, and block terrorist or anti-national security channels.
These demands appear to be at odds with Durov’s position on free speech, but appear to be non-negotiable for the Iranian authorities.
“If a platform does not accept internal rules, it will not receive a license,” said parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as reported by Iran International.
So it looks like people in Iran will have to continue using a VPN to access Telegram for some time.
We suggest checking out our best free VPN page to download only the most secure freebies, or take a look at today’s best VPN deals if you want to go premium.
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