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Treasury sanctions Iranian firm that aids internet censorship

Treasury sanctions Iranian firm that aids internet censorship

 


WASHINGTON Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) names the Iran-based technology company known as Arvan Cloud, two senior Arvan Cloud employees and an affiliate based in the United Arab Emirates for their roles in facilitating Iranian regimes’ censorship of the Internet in Iran.

Arvan Cloud is a key partner of the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology in the development of the National Information Network (NIN), a national intranet used to disconnect the Iranian people from the global Internet. Arvan Cloud has close ties with Iran’s intelligence services, including the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), and Arvan Cloud executives have close ties with senior Iranian government officials. The Iranian government has regularly used internet restrictions and limiting internet speeds to suppress dissent, monitor and punish Iranians for exercising their freedom of expression and assembly online and offline, and limit the dissemination the international community with credible information about egregious human rights. offences.

Free and unrestricted access to information is a fundamental right of all people, including in Iran, said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. The United States is determined to hold accountable those who seek to undermine free speech and suppress dissent, and to call out regimes that deny this right to its citizens.

Today’s action is taken pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13846, which authorizes sanctions against individuals who engage in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran. In addition, OFAC is issuing a time-limited blanket license to allow for the phasing out of transactions with Arvan Cloud. Today’s action is consistent with the U.S. government’s continued support for the Iranian people’s ability to freely access information offline and online, for example through the provision of Internet communication tools to the Iranian people, including included under the Iranian General License D-2. Please also see FAQs 1087 and 1088 for more information on providing cloud services for the people of Iran.

I think Cloud

Navyan Abr Arvan Private Limited Company, known as Arvan Cloud, played a leading role in the Iranian government’s development of the NIN infrastructure, a censored version of the Internet under the control of Iranian authorities. The government has responded to protests that began in late 2022 following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, as well as previous rounds of protests, with significant internet disruptions and restrictions, in addition to mobile network shutdowns and disruptions to kind of curfew. The Iranian regime has sought to shift domestic internet traffic to the NIN in an effort to mitigate the billions of dollars in lost economic activity it incurs when it imposes internet restrictions to suppress dissent. As a web hosting service and content delivery network, Arvan Cloud helped lay the foundation for NIN’s integrated cloud network infrastructure. In contracts with the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Arvan Cloud has explicitly agreed to provide interception for the government, allowing Iranian authorities to control and censor incoming and outgoing traffic and monitor data on servers. Arvan Cloud has also blocked websites at the request of Iran’s Committee to Determine Instances of Criminal Content (CDICC), a government entity previously designated by the United States under EO 13628 for its role in monitoring content in line and its major role in filtering. websites deemed contrary to the beliefs and security of national regimes.

Arvan Cloud maintains a close relationship with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), and Arvan Cloud’s top executives are current or former affiliates of MOIS. Former MOIS officials have also publicly encouraged the use of Arvan Cloud services.

Arvan Cloud is designated under EO 13846 for engaging in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran on or after June 12, 2009 that prohibit, restrict or penalize the exercise of freedom of expression or assembly by Iranian citizens, or which restrict access to print or broadcast media, including facilitating or supporting the intentional manipulation of frequencies by the Iranian government or an entity owned or controlled by the Iranian government jamming or restricting an international signal.

Pouya Pirhosseinloo (Pirhosseinloo) and Farhad Fatemi (Fatemi) are the co-founders of Arvan Cloud and serve as CEO, CTO and Senior Site Reliability Engineer respectively.

ArvanCloud Global Technologies LLC is a Dubai-based subsidiary of Arvan Cloud that provides cloud services on behalf of Arvan Cloud and provides a bridge for connecting Arvan Cloud to the global Internet. Senior management and employees of Arvan Cloud, including Pirhosseinloo and Fatemi, manage, maintain and act as administrative points of contact for the domain and IP addresses of ArvanCloud Global Technologies LLC.

Pirhosseinloo and Fatemi are named in accordance with EO 13846 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf, directly or indirectly, of Arvan Cloud. Arvancloud Global Technologies LLC is designated pursuant to EO 13846 to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Arvan Cloud.

IMPLICATIONS OF SANCTIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of such persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC . In addition, all entities owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting through the United States) that involve property or interests in the property of blocked persons or designated.

In addition, persons who engage in certain transactions with Designated Persons today may themselves be subject to penalties or legal action. In addition, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a material transaction or provides material financial services to any of the persons named today could be subject to US sanctions.

OFAC’s sanctions authority and integrity stems not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove people from the SDN list in accordance with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about positive behavior change. For more information on the process for requesting removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN list, please refer to OFAC’s 897 Frequently Asked Questions.

Click here for identifying information on those named today.

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Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1518

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