Abolhassan Firouzabadi made the remarks on Sunday on the sideline of an IT-related project inauguration ceremony in Tehran.

According to a regulation passed by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, every foreign-based messaging app which has more than one million users in the country should have a representative here, he highlighted.

“In this regulation, the definition of messengers includes social media platforms; so the social media of Instagram should have a responsive representative in the country and also it should not take out the information of Iranian users.”

The same kind of laws also exists in Europe and messaging apps cannot take out the information of European people from the continent, and based on this fact, foreign messaging apps should not be allowed to export information from Iran, he added.

Rumors about blocking Instagram in Iran went around when Iran’s deputy attorney general Mohammad Mosaddegh said in early July that this measure is on the agenda. Shortly after, Iran’s ICT Minister Azari Jahromi highlighted that Instagram will not be blocked.

Iran’s judiciary issued an order in late April to completely ban Telegram app, citing citizens’ complaints and illegal activities of the Telegram against the country’s national security.

He made the announcement on the sidelines of ELECOMP 2018 exhibition currently underway in Tehran, saying that the decision was made during a session of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace on Saturday evening.

“Decisions are pointing toward the launch of an official digital currency in Iran,” he added.

“No decision has yet been made about which digital currency should be made official in Iran, but it was decided that the Social Commission form a working group to discuss the launch of virtual currency exchanges, data analysis of digital currencies, and which currencies should be made legal in the country,” he said.

He went on to add, “we are also planning to come up with a national and joint cryptocurrency for economic transactions with friendly countries. This issue will be discussed in the next session of the cyberspace council.”

On July 25, Alireza Daliri, the Directorate’s deputy for management and investment affairs, said the development of a national digital currency would help Iran dodge the returning US sanctions.

“We are trying to prepare the grounds to use a domestic digital currency in the country,” Daliri had said, adding “this currency would facilitate the transfer of money (to and from) anywhere in the world. Besides, it can help us at the time of sanctions.”