By John L. Chapman

A way forward for Iran 

 In a recent series of interviews from Tehran that included a detailed conversation with Iran’s world-beating Foreign Minister and JCPOA architect Javad Zarif, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt had his most telling moment with Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, the Rouhani government’s 37-year old Minister of Information and Communications Technology (Minister Jahromi is the first Iranian government executive born after the 1979 Revolution). While discussing his belief in the power of social media and his own prolific use of Twitter, the millennial Mr. Jahromi admitted to Holt that the Tehran government was not as effective with modern communications or messaging as it needed to be in the interconnected 24/7 world, due to needless restrictions on the new-era social apps. 

‘Aiding Gram cryptocurrency constitutes criminal act’

TEHRAN – Secretary of Criminal Content Definition Task Force has said any cooperation with Telegram messaging app to launch Gram, the messaging app’s cryptocurrency, in Iran constitutes an action against national security and will be dealt with as a disruption to national economy.