Iran has lifted the ban on Meta messaging platforms WhatsApp and Google Play, a first step toward reducing internet restrictions, Reuters quoted Iranian state media as saying on Tuesday.

Tehran has some of the strictest internet controls in the world. However, tech-savvy Iranians using virtual private networks (VPN) routinely bypass blocks on social platforms such as Facebook, X and YouTube.

“A positive majority was reached for lifting access restrictions to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency said on Tuesday, referring to a meeting on the issue led by President Masoud Pezeshkian.

“Today the first step towards lifting internet restrictions was taken,” IRNA quoted the Islamic Republic’s Information and Communications Technology Minister Sattar Hashemi as saying.

Social media platforms have been widely used during anti-government protests in Iran. In September, the United States called on Big Tech to help circumvent online censorship in countries that heavily censor the internet, including Iran.

Iran remains new, stricter hijab law

On December 18, Iran paused the process of implementing a new and stricter hijab law for women, AP reported. The law, passed by the Iranian parliament in September last year, will not be forwarded to the government.

The law imposes harsher penalties on women who refuse to wear the hijab and on businesses that cater to them. Those penalties were previously rejected by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as he seeks to restart talks with the West over sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.

“Based on the discussions held, it has been decided that this bill will not be forwarded from Parliament to the government for the time being,” Shahram Dabiri, vice president in charge of parliamentary affairs, was quoted as saying by the agency.

If the bill had been forwarded to the government, the Iranian president would have had little room for maneuver. According to the law, he is obliged to approve the bill within five days. It would then come into force after 15 days. The president has no veto power.

Pezeshkian could try to persuade Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state affairs, to stop the law.

(With Reuters, AP inputs)