On Oct. 25 Russian and Iranian communications ministers Nikolay Nikiforov and Mahmoud Vaezi announced that Yandex, the Russian search giant, was to start operating in Iran.
“We are familiar with the powerful Russian search engine Yandex. We agreed that Yandex will open an office in Iran. The system will be adapted for the Iranian people and will be in Persian,” the Russian media quoted Vaezi as saying.
Up to 14 million Iranians may become users of the Russian system, Vaezi added, while his Russian counterpart stressed the necessity of taking into account Iranian laws, its historical and cultural traditions. These are often ignored by foreign Internet companies, Nikiforov believes.
Russia is ready to “open for Iran modern information and communication technologies, including those intended for programs and needs of the Islamic Republic,” Nikiforov was also quoted as saying.
Hasty announcement
The next day, media reports showed that Yandex was not even aware of this Iranian project.
“We are always ready to discuss new partnerships, but for the moment we have no concrete plans to open additional offices [in other countries],” the company’s press service confirmed in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
According to Azerbaidjani news agency Trend, which cited the press service of Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Ministry, the initial suggestion for opening a Yandex office in Iran came from the Russian side.
The Russian government is seeking potential allies among emerging countries against America’s IT monopoly. Speaking earlier this month in Moscow at the first meeting of the BRICS communications ministers, Nikiforov called his counterparts to offer the world alternative ICT products and services.
