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Internet users in Iran are reporting error messages when trying to access major websites from inside the country Friday.

Gmail, Google Reader and Facebook are just some of the blocked sites, according to The Washington Post.

[More from Mashable: Grammys 2012: Who to Follow on Twitter]

Some Iranians are guessing their connectivity woes are being caused by the Iranian government. The country celebrates the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from mid-February until March every year. The government may be restricting Internet access during this politically charged event to prevent anti-government demonstrations from forming online.

All the websites being plagued by error messages use HTTPS, a more secure version of the HTTP protocol that helps keep Internet users' information private.

[More from Mashable: Twitter: Now You Can Tweet By Satellite]

Other encrypted sites are also being blocked, including that of proxy servers, which some Iranians use to circumvent government blocks of Western websites, according to The Verge. Some are fearing this mass block is the first stage of Iran's "national Internet," a government plan to isolate digitally savvy Iranians from the rest of the Internet.

The Internet has played a vital role in Iranian political rallies in the recent past. Mass protests after a disputed election in 2009 were dubbed the "Twitter revolution" because protesters used the social network to organize themselves. The Internet slowed to a crawl during 2010's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. And Iranian protesters used the Internet again last year to coordinate solidarity marches with Arab Spring demonstrations in the Middle East.

Do you think governments should shut off encrypted websites before potentially explosive events? Sound off in the comments below.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Iran Reportedly Blocking Internet

The blogger claims it was done to discredit and oust Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

(Free Malaysia Today) - Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) claimed today that Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin had a “hidden hand” in the leaking of evidence on the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal.

The Malaysia Today webmaster alleged it was done to discredit and oust Shahrizat Abdul Jalil so he (Raja Nong Chik) could contest for the Lembah Pantai seat, a constituency he had coveted in the 2008 general election.

“How did the opposition come into possession of the evidence against Shahrizat?

“Everyone in Umno knows it was Raja Nong Chik who is the dalang (hidden hand). And he leaked the evidence to the opposition so that Shahrizat can be ousted from Lembah Pantai and then he would be able to contest that seat,” Raja Petra said in his latest posting.

The Selangor prince claimed Shahrizat’s statement – that there are hidden hands to bring her down – just after she returned from Mecca during her long leave supports his allegation.

Shahrizat did not state if the hidden hands came from within her own party Umno, but Raja Petra believed the statement referred to the internal workings of those in the ruling Malay party.

He also claimed the admission by PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli, the leading man in the NFC exposé, that he had obtained information from whistleblowers supported his theory.

In an interview with an online news portal yesterday, Rafizi said the exposé often come through anonymous e-mails, indicating that they were sent by persons with vast information on NFC’s financial activities.

Raja Petra said he believed those behind the e-mails work for “handlers” which, in this case, is Raja Nong Chik.

“Rafizi does not know that sometimes whistleblowers or deep throats have ‘handlers’. And I should know. I do this kind of thing for a living”.

Nurul Izzah is next

With Shahrizat facing growing calls to quit, this would pave the way for a straight battle between Raja Nong Chik and Lembah Pantai incumbent Nurul Izzah Anwar, said Raja Petra.

The Malaysia Today webmaster claimed it was Raja Nong Chik’s men who helped gave Nurul Izzah the Malay support she needed to win the seat in the 2008 election.

Ousting the Wanita Umno chief meant it would be easier for Raja Nong Chik to take on the daughter of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as Malay support for Umno will no longer be split.

READ MORE HERE

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RPK: Raja Nong Chik leaked info on NFC

There are several reports at WebmasterWorld where users using Firefox are claiming that the only way to search at Google is to turn on their cookies.

I've personally tested this in a few Firefox browsers and cannot replicate it. I've turned off cookies but Google still lets me conduct my searches. But at this point, there are just too many people complaining about it to not raise an eyebrow. There are tweets, forum posts and so on.

Google told me this is something they are "not testing or rolling out."

So maybe it is a Firefox issue? Maybe it is a bug in Google that Google is not aware of? Or maybe Google is not telling the truth and they are testing something? I am not sure.

Here are some of those reports:

Lately I've been unable to use Google Search without having cookies allowed. Not always, just occasionally. Today it seems to be consistent, no cookies, no clicking thru from the basic G search results page.

Is that new, or just some kind of testing?

This is a new one on me. With Firefox 10 newly installed nothing happens when I click on a Google SERPs link, but I have no problem with Bing, or the Google ads! Switching to other browsers solves the problem too. I re-installed Firefox 8 and still get the same problem! Short of switching permanently to Bing, can anyone offer a possible solution?

Do you have this issue? Can you replicate it?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Image credit to Bill Alldredge on Flickr.

See more here:
Google Search Requiring Cookies? Google Says No