Olympics Web site blocked in Iran

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LONDON, April 9 (UPI) -- Web users in Iran say they can't connect to the official London 2012 Olympics site and are redirected to a site with stories from Iran's official news agencies.

Iran-based users are unlikely to be able to see the Olympics pages, blockediniran.com, a Web site tracking Iranian Internet access, reported.

Nima Akbarpour, presenter of a BBC Farsi language program, said such Web site bans are not uncommon but it is difficult to determine who is doing the blocking.

"The blocking process in Iran is not related to a single specific organization," he said.

"It happens every day -- even affecting pro-government sites and blogs. The Iranian government's Internet Filtering Committee is in charge of the process, but individual judges can also order a web filter to be imposed."

Iran had previously announced it might boycott the Olympics over claims the official Olympic logo spells the word "Zion," a Hebrew word used to refer to Israel or Jerusalem.

However, the country later said its athletes would still "participate and play gloriously."

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to a request for comment on the Olympic site blocking, the BBC said.