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U.S. “virtual embassy” in Iran blocked after only one day

The State Department rolled out its "virtual embassy" aimed at the Iranian people on Tuesday, and the Iranian government blocked the site today. "We condemn the Iranian government’s efforts to deny their people the freedom to access America’s recently launched Virtual Embassy Tehran," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement this afternoon. "Through ...

The State Department rolled out its "virtual embassy" aimed at the Iranian people on Tuesday, and the Iranian government blocked the site today.

The State Department rolled out its "virtual embassy" aimed at the Iranian people on Tuesday, and the Iranian government blocked the site today.

"We condemn the Iranian government’s efforts to deny their people the freedom to access America’s recently launched Virtual Embassy Tehran," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement this afternoon. "Through this action, the Iranian government has once again demonstrated its commitment to build an electronic curtain of surveillance and censorship around its people. The Iranian government’s systematic efforts to deny information to its citizens — to control what the Iranian people see and hear — is doomed to fail in a 21st century when technology is empowering citizens around the globe."

Of course, the administration knew that this could happen.

"Can’t they just add this to the list of sites that they jam and pretty much nullify the effects of it?" a reporter asked Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman at Tuesday’s press conference, which rolled out the new website.

"They can. But I must say, so far, it’s been up now for a few hours and they haven’t yet," Sherman responded. Sherman said that people who operate virtual private networks can get around the censorship and she indicated that the fight to keep the virtual embassy open would be a long one.

"We think we have the technical capability to get it back up even if it gets disrupted, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to make sure the information gets through," said Sherman.

"A decisive reaction by Iranian authorities has neutralized another sly plot by the Americans," commented the Fars news agency, which is connected to the Iranian regime, on the blocking of the site.

At least now, GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann won’t have to follow through on her promise to remove the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

For those outside Iran, an English version of the site can be viewed at: iran.usembassy.gov and tehran.usembassy.gov. The site is available in Persian at persian.iran.usembassy.gov. And here’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s welcome video:

Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.

Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.

A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.

Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin

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