The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blocked the issuance and renewal of SSL certificates for domains of Iran's state-run Fars News Agency, according to a report. International certificate providers including DigiCert and Let's Encrypt are refusing to service the domains due to sanctions, prompting security warnings in browsers and potentially harming the agency's search rankings.
According to a report, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blocked the issuance and renewal of SSL certificates for domains belonging to Iran's state-run Fars News Agency. International certificate authorities including DigiCert and Let's Encrypt are refusing to provide security services to the agency's domains due to sanctions, causing security warnings in web browsers and potentially degrading the agency's search engine rankings.
The move targets the digital infrastructure of the IRGC-affiliated news agency, which The Zioneer has previously reported on. Earlier this month, Google removed 75 YouTube channels linked to Fars News and other sanctioned Iranian entities (Jun 14). The US Treasury also sanctioned Hezbollah fundraising networks (Jun 18). The latest action adds a technical layer to the enforcement campaign, restricting access to the agency's online content.
The availability of the Fars News website remains uncertain, as the certificate blocking may make the site inaccessible to many users. The full impact on the agency's operations is not yet clear.
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