TEHRAN: Iran has launched its own video-sharing website to compete against Google’s popular YouTube whose content is deemed inappropriate by the Islamic regime, the state television reported yesterday.

The website (http://www.mehr.ir) called ‘Mehr’, meaning affection in Farsi, aims to attract Persian-speaking users and also promote Iranian culture, according to its About Us page. “From now on, people can upload their short films on the website and access (IRIB) produced material,” said IRIB deputy chief Lotfollah Siahkali. A Facebook page dedicated to Mehr is providing links to some of its content, including music clips produced in Iran. Iran has consistently censored YouTube since mid-2009, in the wake of the disputed elections.AFP