The Trump administration has granted permission to several State Department-funded projects focused on internet freedom in Iran to operate for another 30 days, as the president signed a memorandum restoring his so-called maximum pressure policy on Tehran.
The continuation of long-term support for these projects is expected to be reviewed during the 30-day period.
Trump signed an executive order on January 20, his first day in office, suspending foreign development assistance for 90 days to allow for a review of its efficiency and alignment with his America First policy stance.
The decision left Iranian human rights activists concerned about its impact on Iran-related programs, with some saying the order could help Tehran further restrict its people’s access to information.
Following the executive order, the State Department halted most ongoing foreign aid programs and paused the initiation of new assistance, according to an internal memo distributed to officials and US embassies abroad.
Official government figures show Washington is the world's biggest donor of international aid, spending $39 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, out of which $65 million was allocated to funding State Department-administered Near East Regional Democracy (NERD).
The body is the main foreign assistance channel through which the United States has supported civil society and human rights in Iran since 2009, according to the Congressional Research Service.
A part of the US funds covers the expenses of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services which ordinary Iranians used to circumvent the Islamic Republic’s censorship. Many of these services will have to stop their operation following the aid cut.
“It is a very dangerous move, because the issue of internet freedom is very vital, both to the people of Iran and the allies of Iranian people in the West,” a cyber security expert based in Silicon Valley told Iran International on condition of anonymity.
Trump’s order, an internet activist told Iran International, deprives 20 million Iranians, or a fifth of the population, of US-supported VPNs they use to bypass Tehran’s internet curbs.
At their peak during the “Woman Life Freedom” protests in 2022, VPN usage in Iran hit two-third of the population. “In today’s Iran, the internet has no meaning without VPNs,” writes internet activist Soroush Ahmadi in an article for Peace Line journal, which is published by the Virginia-based NGO “Human Rights Activists in Iran”.
The VPNs commercially available in the Iranian market are believed to be controlled by the Islamic Republic and even sold by entities affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards who profit from the needs of Iranians to gain unfettered access to the internet.
The bureau has released posters seeking information on the two men with a combined reward of up to $25 million - $5 million from the FBI and $20 million from the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program - for information leading to Levinson's location.
The two Iranian intelligence officers identified by the FBI are Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai. The FBI alleges that Baseri and Khazai, acting as officials of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), orchestrated Levinson's abduction, subsequent detention and likely death.
The former FBI agent vanished during a freelance investigation in Kish Island, southern Iran, in 2007. His disappearance has remained an open case for the FBI, which has vowed to bring him home.
Iranian officials have never acknowledged detaining Levinson.
"The FBI remains steadfast in our commitment to return Bob to his family," said Sanjay Virmani, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division.
“Our extensive investigation continues to develop new leads and intelligence, and we will pursue all options to hold every Iranian official involved in his abduction accountable.”
The US Treasury Department previously sanctioned both Baseri and Khazai in December 2020 for their roles in Levinson's disappearance.
His family announced that he was presumed dead in March 2020, on the advice of US officials.
The Levinsons said in a 2023 statement, “We will never stop demanding that Iranian leaders answer for what happened to Robert Levinson, the greatest man we have ever known. His abduction on Iranian soil in March 2007, his years of imprisonment with a total lack of any human rights or decency, and ultimately his murder, are on their hands.”