An Iranian lawmaker said economic interests tied to the sale of virtual private networks are working to keep internet filtering in place and that lawmakers are pursuing an inquiry into the pressure campaign, according to an interview published by Rouydad24.
Mostafa Pourdehghan, secretary of parliament’s Industries and Mines Committee, said talks with Telegram have been under way and that officials had hoped to restore access this week before differences delayed the step.
“We have received information indicating repeated consultations with Telegram’s managers,” he told Rouydad24. “Some colleagues at the Communications Ministry have unofficially told us Telegram will be unblocked soon.”
He framed removing the filtering as a public demand and said resistance was coming from outside the legislature, what he described as "VPN mafia."
“The financial turnover of VPNs is about 50 trillion tomans (about $450 million), and beneficiaries hide behind sacred slogans such as national security to profit from continued filtering,” he said.
Pourdehghan added that a parliamentary “investigation and inspection into the backstory of these pressures” is being advanced with the communications minister.
The debate has intensified amid reports of negotiations over conditions for lifting the 2018 ban on Telegram, which remains widely used via VPNs.
State-linked outlets have said Tehran wants commitments including cooperation with the judiciary on data requests, limits on content deemed to incite ethnic tensions, and measures against material considered to threaten national security.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has rejected reports that the government reached a deal with the platform.
“If a platform does not accept internal regulations, it will not receive a license,” he told lawmakers, calling reports of an agreement false.
President Masoud Pezeshkian campaigned on easing internet restrictions, but officials have said any change must be approved by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and tied to compliance with domestic rules.
