The Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi expressed Iran’s readiness to share its experience on the resilience of communication infrastructure in military and cyberattacks.
He made the statement on Wednesday
at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Plenipotentiary Conference
2026 (PP-26) in Doha – the highest policy-making body of the United Nations
agency for digital technologies.
Citing Iran's achievements in
developing communication infrastructure and digital transformation, as well as uninterrupted
provision of public services under military and cyberattacks, Hashemi emphasized
fostering multilateral cooperation on the peaceful use of technology.
The full text of the ICT Minister’s
statement is as follows:
“Mr. President, Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
I would like to thank the State
of Qatar for its warm hospitality and excellent hosting.
The Islamic Republic of Iran
aligns its national vision with ITU’s two strategic goals: universal
connectivity and sustainable digital transformation.
Since PP-22, we have made
significant progress in e-government, now offering over 7,000 digital public
services. We have expanded fiber-optic coverage to over 11 million households
and connected more than 83 percent of our rural areas to broadband. Our digital
economy accounts for more than 7% of our GDP, supported by domestic platforms
serving over 50 million users.
However, sustainable digital
transformation requires peace and security. Recently, our beloved Iran faced an
unprovoked act of aggression. The aggressors targeted telecommunication
infrastructure.
During this aggression, 500
telecom sites and our Space Research Center, a research institution committed
to advancing scientific expertise and developing peaceful space applications in
agriculture, water resource management, and natural disaster mitigation, were
attacked. Several specialized IT engineers were killed in these attacks.
Yet, we are proud that despite
the attacks on telecom sites and numerous cyberattacks, through the
round-the-clock efforts of our engineers and experts, our national
communication network remained operational without interruption, and all online
services, education, banking, healthcare, and others, continued without pause.
In this regard, the Islamic
Republic of Iran stands ready to share its experience in network development
and resilience with other nations. We urge the ITU to promote fair,
multilateral cooperation, ensuring that technology serves humanity and
development, never destruction.
Thank you.”