Iran Saves Face, Unblocks Facebook

By Tom Dunlap

Iran has re-friended Facebook and Twitter, it was reported today.

Social networking sites are apparently playing a big role in the upcoming Iranian elections, with tens of thousands of Iranians using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other sites. One of the candidates challenging President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the reform-minded Mir-Hossein Mousavi, has even launched his own YouTube channel.

All that free expression of ideas and candidate support, however, didn't sit well with some in Iran. But there was an important update today.

The L.A. Times' man in Beirut, Borzou Daragahi, reported the following today:

Iran unblocked the popular Facebook social networking website just days after it was banned, an Iranian news agency is reporting.

A report published today on the website of the Iranian Labor News Agency, or ILNA, said Facebook was now accessible for ordinary Web surfers.

The rescinding of the ban came a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied he was behind the decision to block the site, which has been used by his challengers to rally supporters for upcoming elections.

Reformist challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, had become especially adept at using Facebook to generate buzz for his campaign.

According to the tersely worded ILNA report, the site has been blocked and unblocked numerous times over the last few days.

A committee comprising representatives of the Interior Ministry, intelligence services, judiciary branch and parliament decides on which sites are to be blocked, according to ILNA.

More than a third of Iranians use the Internet, according to the Internet World Stats market research site.

It continues to amaze how social networks have changed elections, both in the U.S. and abroad. It's worth watching to see if the social network hordes can wrest control of the country from Ahmadinejad.