# Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Iran

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, or Ministry of ICT (Persian: وزارت ارتباطات و فناوری اطلاعات) established in 1908, is responsible for postal services, telephones and information technology in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Laying out and implementing policies pertaining to postal services is the functions of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which is also in charge of issuing import licenses for certain communication devices and parts thereof such as a mobile phone.

## History

The postal service in Iran was handled by a bureau before 1876 and all postal affairs have were done by a bureau. In the same year that it was formed, it showed success in terms of social and monetary value and then in the same year this bureau converted into a full Ministry by the ordered issued by Naser-aldin Shah. The order stated that, Amin-almolk, the Minister of Tasks and Council, be selected for executing the operations (postal services) of Ministry of ICT. After a year working as a Minister of ICT, in 1877, he resigned from the Ministry of Tasks And Council & decided to dedicate more of his time to the Ministry of ICT. During the 19th century, this ministry was administered by Amin-almolk, as the minister and Mirza Rahim as the deputy Minister of ICT.
In 1882, a book was published (lithographed booklet named "the Tariff of the Great Post Office of Iran"). It displayed maps of the telegram offices, post offices, pony post roads and postal network in the 19th-century Iran. That booklet talked about Iran having seven main and five secondary postal lines. After the late 1800s, there were no major revision to Iranian Ministry of the Post, other than the normal organizational and structural changes. After the presidency of Amir Kabir, new renovations appeared in the post of Iran. The posts during the era of Imperialists suspended the extracurricular activities were in suspension and the postal services became fast, according to the Amir Kabir"s discipline.
The Postal services Ministry had an organization restructuring in 1906. Telegraph bureau was put under the administration of the Postal ministry and the Ministry of Post and Telegraph formed. The first telephone patent assigned to Basir-ol-mamalek in 1900 and since then the telephone services started working in Tehran. In 1929, the Ministry of Postal and Telegraph offered a proposal to the parliament for purchasing the stocks of the only Telephone Company. Then the Ministry of Post, Telegraph, and Telephone was formed after the government purchased the stocks of the only Telephone Company.
After the 1929, many development projects were done to the ministry until 2003. There were several subsidiary company and centers which went through many evolutions and were able to spread communication solutions inside Iran. In 2003, a bill of duties and responsibilities in the parliament of Iran decided to rename the ministry from "Ministry of P.T.T" to "Ministry of I.C.T". The Bill also brought a structural reform to the Ministry of I.C.T. It contained new laws and mandates from the Parliament. Thus three private companies: Data Communication Company, acquired by the I.C.T in 2005 and T.I.C and M.C.I were established beside T.C.I. Some of the evolutions are establishing T.C.I and I.R.I Post Company as well as organizing two organizations named I.S.A and C.R.A, and also working to build two new councils named "High Council of IT" and "Space Council".

## Programs

As of January 2025, the combined number of users across Iranian messaging apps exceeded 100 million due to their connection to the Message Exchange Bus (MXB), which links all the messaging apps together. This system was developed by the ministry.
The ministry created radar.game and 403.online in 2022 allowing access to games and foreign sites, Iran had two million homes with fiber optical connected internet.
The ministry has deployed a what it calls "Professional Internet" for some corporations which is internet without National Information Network. The government also controls internet speed access.
It also had supported cloud messaging apps it has interlinked and compared it with Digital Markets Act.
The ministry mainly selects Chinese corporations for imported technology parts for their quality.
According to Foreign Policy the ministry helps mass surveillance and repression mostly. Their ministers have been sanctioned by foreign governments on several occasions.
It has developed national information network registration site.

## Workgroup

The minister is a part of special taskforce for the digital economy.

## Chart

Departments and agencies working throughout the ministry include Iranian Space Research Center, Telecommunication Company of Iran, Telecommunication Infrastructure Company.

## List of ministers

| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Government |
| 1 | Mohammad Hassan Eslami | 22 February 1979 | 4 November 1979 | Independent | Interim Government |
| 2 | Mahmoud Ghandi | 28 November 1979 | 28 June 1981 | Islamic Republican Party | Interim Government Rajai |
| 3 | Morteza Nabavi | 17 August 1981 | 28 October 1985 | Islamic Republican Party | Bahonar Interim Government Mousavi I |
| 4 | Mohammad Gharazi | 28 October 1985 | 20 August 1997 | Independent | Mousavi II Rafsanjani I Rafsanjani II |
| 5 | Mohammad Reza Aref | 20 August 1997 | 17 June 2000 | Islamic Iran Participation Front | Khatami I |
| 6 | Ahmad Motamedi | 14 January 2001 | 24 August 2005 | Independent | Khatami I Khatami II |
| 7 | Mohammad Soleimani | 24 August 2005 | 3 September 2009 | Independent | Ahmadinejad I |
| 8 | Reza Taghipour | 3 September 2009 | 2 December 2012 | Independent | Ahmadinejad II |
| 9 | Mohammad-Hassan Nami | 26 February 2013 | 15 August 2013 | Military | Ahmadinejad II |
| 10 | Mahmoud Vaezi | 15 August 2013 | 20 August 2017 | Moderation and Development Party | Rouhani I |
| 11 | Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi | 20 August 2017 | 25 August 2021 | Independent | Rouhani II |
| 12 | Issa Zarepour | 25 August 2021 | 21 August 2024 | Independent | Raisi |
| 13 | Sattar Hashemi | 21 August 2024 | Current | Independent | Pezeshkian |