Iran texting service restored, but opposition is wary

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) - Iran's text-messaging network was restored this week, almost three weeks after it was disconnected, the semi-official Iran Labor News Agency reported Thursday.

The service was cut a day before the country's June 12 presidential election, the agency reported without giving a reason.

Service was restored across almost all of the country on Monday, and in the capital Tehran two days later, the agency reported.

But opposition supporters have been warning each other against using text messages, believing the government is monitoring them, according to many messages posted on Twitter.

"Tell people not to use it for political info - they are tracking," reads a much-quoted message from a Twitter feed using the name oxfordgirl. Oxfordgirl said Thursday cell phone service was again down in Iran.

CNN could not confirm the authenticity of any of the posts on Twitter, the popular Web service that allows users to post short messages.

The ability to send multi-media messages - pictures or video - by cell phone still has not been restored, ILNA said.

The election sparked weeks of street protests and solidarity demonstrations around the world. At least 17 people were killed in the demonstrations, officials said, with some reports suggesting the number could be much higher.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner by a margin of about 2-to-1 over his nearest rival, Mir Hossein Moussavi, who said the results were rigged.

Since the disputed election results sent tens of thousands of Iranians into the streets to protest, the world has gotten a front-row view of the unrest thanks largely to dissidents using online tools to spread the news. But as days have turned to weeks, there has been a sharp drop in the number of messages, pictures and videos that supporters outside the country have been receiving.

"The information flow unquestionably has been severely restricted," said Drewery Dyke, a member of human rights group Amnesty International's Iran team.

"The clampdown has been multifaceted, including the technological means of jamming or cutting phone lines, of monitoring phone lines, and, of course, the more rough-edged side of arresting journalists and bloggers."