Hassan Firouzabadi, the Secretary of Iran's High Council for Cyberspace, has called for a ban of messaging app Telegram within the country, citing concerns that its ICO could pose a risk to the national currency, Al-Monitor reported.
“Telegram is not a dominant messenger in any country except for Iran. … Telegram has officially announced that it will be used as an economic platform, and Telegram will undermine the national currency of Iran,” Firouzabadi said on state TV.
Referring to Telegram’s plans to set up its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency, Firouzabadi continued:
“We cannot allow Telegram’s virtual currency to enter the country.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani has declared his opposition to such a move, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported.
“Having strong, secure and cheaply priced Iranian messaging applications that can solve people's needs and problems will surely make everyone proud,” Rouhani said in a meeting with a number of ministers, members of parliament and governors April 3.
However, he added with reference to the blocking of Telegram, “the goal of creating and enhancing Iranian software and messaging apps should not be blocking access to other apps, but he goal should be the elimination of monopolies.”
Telegram has raised $1.7 billion in two rounds of ICO which it plans to use to develop the Telegram Open Network blockchain, which includes the cryptocurrency Gram.