Iran restores access to Gmail and Google search

About a week ago, we mentioned that Iran had deployed its new national information network and blocked access to Google’s search engine. Iran also reportedly blocked access to Gmail at the same time. BBC News reports that Iran has now lifted restrictions imposed on both Google search and Gmail.

However, access all Google services inside Iran has not been restored. Specifically, YouTube is still blocked as it has been since 2009. According to an official statement from Iran’s telecommunications ministry committee, the intention was to block YouTube and the blockage of Gmail was accidental.

Mohammad Reza Miri said, “We do not yet have enough technical know-how to differentiate between these two services.”

The blockage of the services last week occurred at the same time as protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islamic film that was posted to YouTube. Some people suspected at the time that the block of Gmail could be temporary.

One telecommunications committee member said, “We absolutely do not want YouTube to be accessible. That is why the telecommunications ministry is seeking a solution to fix the problem to block YouTube under the HTTPS [Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure] protocol while leaving Gmail accessible.” “That will soon happen.”

[via BBC News]