Mohammad Hashemi,
Rafsanjani's younger brother, told the semiofficial ISNA news agency Friday that
a company providing services to the site told Rafsanjani's office that it was
ordered to cut it off.
"The company providing
services to Ayatollah Rafsanjani's site called and said they've been ordered to
cut services to the site. Fifteen minutes later, the site was out of
service," ISNA quoted the brother as saying.
Rafsanjani's brother said it
was not yet clear which authority ordered the site to be blocked.
Rafsanjani, president from
1989 to 1997, supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the disputed
2009 presidential election that led to re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Since the election, Iran has
blocked dozens of opposition websites, including the website of former
reformist President Mohammad Khatami. Opposition members believe Ahmadinejad's
re-election was fraudulent.
A conservative website
accused Rafsanjani's website of seeking to create rifts within the hard-line
camp ahead of March 12 parliamentary elections.
"Rafsanjani's site is
making efforts to create differences among (conservatives)," the website,
bibaknews.com, said late Thursday.
Registration of candidates
for the election ends Friday. The country's major reformist groups are staying
out of the race, claiming that basic requirements for free and fair elections
have not been met.
