JNN 11 Dec 2012 Tehran : Iran has launched its own video-sharing website for Persian speakers as an alternative to Internet powerhouses such as YouTube, aiming to promote the Iranian culture.

Announcing the launch on Tuesday, Lotfollah Siahkali, deputy head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) for virtual media, said the website allows the Iranian people to upload their short videos on the website and access favorite IRIB productions.

The Mehr website, which means ‘affection’ in Persian, aims to attract Persian-speaking users and promote the Iranian culture, and is run by the state broadcaster IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting).

Iran already has a popular local video channel called Aparat, which is run by the same company behind Iranian social network Cloob.

While there is no data yet available about the use of Mehr, Aparat, which has been around for a couple of years, is the 13th most popular website in Iran according to web stat provider Alexa.

Aparat is based in Iran and abides by local laws governing its content but has international sponsors including electronics firm LG.

Iran is also working on its national intranet, also known as the Clean Web. The initiative seeks protection against the immorality prevalent on the Internet, and will be clean of un-Islamic content. The Iranian national intranet will not cut people’s access to the Internet.

Iran has also undertaken a project to develop a national search engine dubbed “Ya Haq,” which can be accessed through the domestic intranet.

YouTube, operated by Google, has been blocked in the country since 2009 , due to the Provocative and Unethical Contents available on it and which are not even restricted , just in the name of free Expression of speech and Social Liberties , which are the main cause of Immoral Activities in the West .

YouTube owners Google declined to comment on the launch of Mehr.