The Iranian government blocked the new social network Google+(plus) less than two weeks after it was launched, accusing the United States of using the network as a "new spy tool on the web." The authorities fear opposition activists and opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime may try to use the new social network to contact exiled Iranian opposition members living abroad. Iran has also banned Facebook and Twitter although the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei owns a pretty active Twitter account where he updates his activities and publishes statements. There are nearly 30 million Internet surfers while the country's population stands at some 75 million. In an effort to evade detection by the authorities many Iranians surf on the net using proxy servers outside the country.
