Iranian authorities deny controlling internet access ahead of presidential polls
Authorities wary of violent street protests deny tightening access ahead of presidential elections, but users say net is barely useable
Iran is tightening control of the internet ahead of next month's presidential election, mindful of violent street protests that social networkers inspired last time around over claims of fraud, users and experts say.
The authorities deny such claims, but have not explained why service has become slower. Businesses, banks and even state organisations are not spared by the widespread disruption to the internet, local media reports.
"The Internet is in a coma," said the Ghanoon daily in a report earlier this month.
"It only happens in Iran: the election comes, the internet goes," it said.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and numerous other sites, including thousands of Western ones, have been censored in Iran since massive street demonstrations that followed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009.
Those protests - stifled by a heavy-handed crackdown that led to numerous arrests and even deaths - were instigated online and observers say the authorities are choking the internet to prevent a recurrence.