Tehran: The website of former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani has been blocked after an order from the government, his office confirmed yesterday.
Mohammad Hashemi, Rafsanjani's younger brother, told the semi-official ISNA news agency yesterday that a company providing services to the site told Rafsanjani's office that it was ordered to cut it off.
"The company providing services to Ayatollah Rafsanjani's site called and said they've been ordered to cut services to the site. Fifteen minutes later, the site was out of service," ISNA quoted the brother as saying.
Rafsanjani's brother said it was not yet clear which authority ordered the site to be blocked.
Disputed elections
Rafsanjani, president from 1989 to 1997, supported opposition leader Mir Hussain Mousavi in the disputed 2009 presidential election that led to re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Since the election, Iran has blocked dozens of opposition websites, including the website of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami. Opposition members believe Ahmadinejad's re-election was fraudulent.
A conservative website accused Rafsanjani's website of seeking to create rifts within the hardline camp ahead of March 12 parliamentary elections.
"Rafsanjani's site is making efforts to create differences among [conservatives]," the website, bibaknews.com, said late on Thursday.
