TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian government announced on Tuesday that it has lifted its ban on WhatsApp and Google Play after more than two years, according to reports from the official IRNA news agency.

This decision came from the country’s Supreme Council of Cyber Space during a meeting led by reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian. The president has expressed commitment to easing restrictions on social media platforms.

Iran’s telecommunications minister, Sattar Heshemi, took to social media platform X to describe this move as a “first step” in the ongoing effort to broaden access. He mentioned that “the path will continue,” suggesting other services could also be unblocked in the future.

Residents across Tehran and other cities reported to have regained access to these services on their computers, although they are still unable to use them on mobile devices for the time being.

WhatsApp ranks as the third most used messaging app in Iran, trailing behind Instagram and Telegram.

The ban on both WhatsApp and Google Play was initially imposed in 2022 during widespread protests sparked by the death of a woman detained by the morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s strict dress code. After a harsh crackdown by security forces led to numerous fatalities and thousands of arrests, the protests began to subside in 2023.

Over the years, Iran has restricted access to various social media platforms; however, many citizens resort to using proxies and VPN services to bypass these limitations.