Iran’s Minister of Communications has announced that the launch of the “national internet”, which was scheduled for February, has been postponed to June.

The Mehr News Agency reports that Reza Taghipour said in a meeting on Saturday: “Supporting local software and creating secure communication infrastructure are among the most important strategic decisions in the field of cyber defence, and the first step toward this will be launched in June.”

Previously, the government had announced that the “national internet” or “national information network” would be launched by February 11.

Islamic Republic officials seek to control online content by launching the so-called “clean or halal internet”, which would not provide access to pornographic and indecent sites and perhaps other sites deemed inappropriate.

Analysts have said this so-called internet is an attempt to cut off Iranian users from the World Wide Web.

Taghipour maintained that the current internet is not safe and the fact that it is global makes it prone to a series of threats.

He said: “Today we witness that the internet is used and exploited as a forceful tool in the coloured revolutions.”

Taghipour also alleged that Google turns over all its information to the United States Central Intelligence Agency.

Similar concerns about the security of Google and the internet have been echoed by Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi and other Islamic Republic officials.