Eisa Zarepour (born 1980, Kermanshah province) was a largely unknown figure in Iran before his appointment to the post of Minister of Information and Communications Technology in August 2021.
While maintaining a low profile, Zarepour has taken on several influential government positions over the years. During the Ahmadinejad administration he held several senior ICT positions in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (CIG). He later moved to the judiciary when Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s current president, was its head (2019-2021). In his private sector and Government NGO (GONGO) work, Zarepour played an active role in promoting business initiatives which supported the expansion of the National Information Network (NIN), Iran’s project to localize and create a national internet.
Given Zarepour’s new role as the ICT Minister, this piece aims to provide an overview of his background and approach to policy in an effort to predict his potential influence over the future of digital rights in Iran.
What can we expect from Zarepour?
On August 11, 2021, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi nominated Eisa Zarepour to head the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to the parliament. A little more than two weeks later, on August 28th the nominee was given a vote of confidence by members of parliament with 256 in favor, 17 against, and 10 abstentions.
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Zarepour’s record demonstrates that he supported the development of the NIN – this is manifested by his work in the private sector, governmental NGOs (GONGOs), and his political activities.
Over the years, he has actively collaborated with leading political advocates for a more censored internet in Iran. One example is his involvement in the Clean Cyberspace Developers Association (see below). In the past, Zarepour has also developed commercial partnerships with actors within Iran’s private sector who deliver projects to support the National Information Network. (See Career Overview section for details.)
Since taking office, Zarepour has taken actions that further prove his place among the most adamant advocates of internet restrictions in Iran.
During the first six months as ICT Minister he issued several statements in support of the National Information Network. Zarepour has also supported state-backed domestic messaging apps, and has defended a bill (currently referred to as the “User Protection and Core Online Services Bill”) that seeks to drastically restrict access to the internet in Iran.
In addition, shortly after his appointment, Iranians experienced a sharp drop in the speed and quality of the internet. Bandwidth throttling is a tactic to discourage users in Iran from accessing the global internet. Internet connectivity issues caused by throttling can be difficult to trace back to the government. As such, this can be an effective way to control information and create frustration among the population while evading responsibility. Zarepour has denied any role in the recent connectivity issues and, in response to an IRNA reporter’s question regarding user complaints, Zarepour shifted blame to the media for fabricating the story. Social media users condemned his response citing his lack of transparency and refusal to take responsibility.
Zarepour and the media
In the short time he’s been in office, we’ve seen a contrast between Zarepour and his predecessor in terms of their accessibility to tech journalists in Iran. While Iran’s former ICT Minister Mohammad Azari Jahromi engaged with many tech journalists, Zarepour has taken a more guarded and manufactured approach with fewer media appearances.
Zarepour scheduled his first press conference in December 2021, around four months after his official appointment. In that press conference he reiterated his support for domestic services such as state-sponsored search engines and promised further development of domestic internet infrastructure through the expansion of fiber optics.
Unlike his predecessor, who had a strong presence on social media, Zarepour prefers to communicate over email and text messages. He does maintain a social media presence although most of his accounts are on domestic platforms with the exception of Instagram and LinkedIn.
A Servant of the National Information Network
Despite his long career in developing and delivering digitization projects and tools to support the development of a national internet, he was relatively unknown to internet policy observers in Iran until recently. Upon further examination of his track record as a government official, a member of the private sector, and as a founding member of the Clean Cyberspace Developers Association, many internet policy observers in Iran speculated that his tenure as ICT minister would advance the goals of the National Information Network project.
Over the last few months Zarepour has rapidly gone from an unknown figure to one that many associate with the government’s commitment to further restrict the internet. As the domestic backlash to the User Protection bill has demonstrated, an increasingly disaffected population of Iranians are frustrated with the government’s plans to further curtail their right to access information and freedom of expression online.
Additionally, Zarepour’s first six months in office has confirmed the worst fears of Iranian digital rights activists. Not only have internet users in Iran experienced a sharp drop in the quality of their access to the internet, but his resistance to acknowledging public grievances hints at the role he may play in the coming years.
Unlike his predecessors, who sought to convince observers that Iran did not intend to further restrict access to the global internet , Zarepour has made no such promises. In fact, he seems to be doubling down on policies that would limit access to the global internet as set by the Supreme Council for Cyberspace.
The next few years will be challenging for Zarepour as he works to advance the NIN while dealing with a growing domestic opposition to the state’s restrictive information controls policies.
Career Overview
Political and Governmental Activities
Before his appointment as Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Zarepour worked in various roles in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance during Ahmadinejad’s administration, later moving to the judiciary.
In all of these roles, he demonstrated a commitment to delivering projects that supported the National Information Network, further walling off Iran’s online access from that of the rest of the world.
Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
2006-2009: Zarepour was appointed to the Planning Council, the Council of Deputies, and the Administrative Transformation Council.
2007-2009: He served on the board of directors of the National Computer Games Foundation, operating under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
2009-2011: In addition, Zarepour was a member and representative of the ministry on the government’s Specialist Scientific Technological Committee. He also implemented the ministry project: the National Culture Network of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ahmadinejad Administration appointments
2010-11: Zarepour became the first chairman of the specialist committee: the Iranian-Islamic Culture in the Digital Space. This committee was part of the administration’s ICT working group, in charge of government communications during the Ahmadinejad years.
Academia
2012-2015: Zarepour took a break from government work, and undertook a short career in academia and the private sector. In 2015, he gained his PhD in computer engineering from the University of New South Wales School of Computer Science and Engineering, based in Sydney, Australia.
Private Sector Activities
2015: Other examples that indicate Zarepour’s support for the NIN come from his private sector work as chairman of the board of the company, Smart Online Monitoring Co, as well as several other private enterprises. This includes his current position as chairman of the board of Dorsa Virtual Environment, which he was appointed to in 2015. A review of the company’s website shows that the products of Dorsa Virtual Environment focus on creating controlled online spaces for children and adolescents.
GONGO Activities
2016: In 2016, Zarepour was a founding member of the Clean Cyberspace Developers Association (فضای مجازی پاک), which is often referred to by the acronym FMP. He also served as an alternate board member. The association was founded by a group of hardline policymakers and claims that its activities are mainly focused on Internet policy in Iran that supports “the values and ideals of the Islamic Revolution.” FMP claims that its organization was formed for the “protection of cultural values.” It promotes extensive filtering of the web and considers social media apps a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty.
Several founding members of FMP are directly connected to Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei, including its managing director, Rasool Jalili, who was appointed by the Supreme Leader to the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, the board’s vice chairman Monira Hosseini-Khamenei who is a relative of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Judiciary
2020: Shortly after the parliamentary elections in 2020, where Zarepour was long-listed as a Principlist Coalition candidate, then Head of Judiciary Ebrahim Raisi appointed him to lead its Statistics and Information Technology Center. While there, he played a leading role in digitizing the judiciary’s services.
