These are the most popular foreign platforms in the country.
Iran will maintain access restrictions to Instagram and WhatsApp.
"The two platforms will only be allowed to operate if they have a legal representative in the country to be responsible for the activities of their users," President Ebrahim Raisi said on television on Tuesday evening.
Authorities had imposed drastic restrictions on the internet and social media, including blocking access to Instagram and WhatsApp, after protests broke out following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in mid-September.
An easing was expected
The two platforms belonging to Meta "were the cause of insecurity in the country during the recent riots", explained Ebrahim Raïssi.
But, he added, "I have told the country's officials that the internet disruptions are causing the nation's discontent."
Netizens were hoping for an easing of restrictions as the number of protests has dropped in recent weeks.
Former government spokesman Ali Rabii warned in late January that the activities of "about three million companies and the employment of 12 million people" were linked to the internet in Iran, which has become a highly connected country. these last years.
Instagram and WhatsApp were the most used applications since the platforms YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and TikTok were blocked in recent years.
But even before the challenge, Internet access was restricted in the country: without VPN-type software, most web pages hosted outside the country are inaccessible.
And the new restrictions have made it difficult to access these tools.
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