June 20-2014
Culture Minister Ali Jannati has joined President Rohani is ridiculing Iranian officials who try to stop the wheels of progress by jumping in front of the moving train of modern communications.
He compared today’s fear of the Internet among Iranian officials to their opposition to the fax machine after the revolution.
He openly treated them as ignoramuses. More crucially, he said they made the revolution itself look ignorant and caused the country to fall behind the rest of the world.
At a meeting with Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Jannati warned that the government’s initial rejection of new technologies and later acceptance retarded the country’s development.
He criticized not just the blocking of popular social media websites and the jamming of satellite stations, but also the lack of tolerance shown by officials toward opposing views.
“We [at the Culture Ministry] still do not know if we are supposed to block Viber and WhatsApp or not,” said Jannati, referring to a quarrel between the administration and the Judiciary, which ordered that the websites blocked.
Jannati said, “There was a time we had problems with video. There was even a time we had an issue with the fax machine. When I was governor of Khorasan, [Mohammad] Gharazi was the communications minister. During that time, they sent fax machines for the ministers and governors. And they sent a confidential letter along with it that said, ‘This fax machine should only be in your office, and only you should have access to this.’”
Jannati said, “It seems we have to confront every new phenomenon and, after time has passed, we finally accept it. We always want to have a 20-year distance from the world. Let’s at least move along with the world.”
Jannati asked, “How much do we use satellites now? Shiites across the world rent a satellite and make statements. There was a time we could not even send one book to Saudi Arabia. We can disseminate our work through satellite and the Internet. But instead of using their facilities, we limit access so that others don’t use it.”
He continued, “Right now, the Americans are busy installing 14 satellites with an altitude of less than 1,000 kilometers. Then you can easily watch satellite stations on your cell phones. Instead of thinking of what’s the best way to use these facilities, we think of how to jam these satellites so that others don’t use them. This mentality needs to change.”
Jannati said, “In the domain of culture, for there to be movement and creativity, we need an open environment. I have said this numerous times, that we cannot grow culture in a closed environment. We have to develop culture in an open environment with contrasting ideas and an exchange of ideas.
“We still do not have the tolerance to listen to views that are opposing and different to our own tastes. We have to create this tolerance within ourselves.”
Citing President Rohani’s comment that “heaven cannot be forced” on the people with a lash—a comment condemned by hard-liners—Jannati said, “Our president speaks one sentence, and they cannot tolerate this one sentence. They ask if you studied in England or Qom.”
