Iran arrests over 'insulting' texts
Eleven people have been arrested in Iran after allegedly sending text messages deemed insulting to the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an Iranian newspaper said.
The paper quoted Col Ismaeil Mohebipour, of the Revolutionary Guard, as saying the arrests were made after social networking applications on mobile phones - such as WhatsApp, Viber, Line and Tango – were monitored.
Iran’s judiciary has demanded that moderate President Hassan Rouhani’s government ban such applications.
Khomeini established Iran’s clerical rule after leading a popular revolt that overthrew the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979. Khomeini remains highly respected.
Col Mohebipour said those arrested “acknowledged their errors” but did not elaborate on their texts. He said the case has been handed over to the courts.
