Iran blocks America8217;s 8216;virtual embassy Tehran8217;

The 8220;Virtual Embassy Tehran8221; website 8212; which makes clear it does not offer consular services 8212; is an attempt by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to give Iranians a sympathetic view of the United States,which is referred to as 8220;the Great Satan8221; by Tehran8217;s ruling elite.

The website,which was in English and Persian was blocked yesterday.

Accusing the US of 8220;meddling8221; in the internal affairs of the country,Iran barred the website.

US officials responded by saying they were 8220;expecting this8221;.

However,they hoped that people of Iran would still be able access this website as many Iranians have tools to access this blocked website.

8220;We did expect8221; the State Department spokesman,Mark Toner,told reporters at a daily news conference.

8220;We are confident to recover from these kinds of temporary compromises of the site,8221; he said.

8220;Many Iranians do have software and virtual private networks that allow them to work around these kinds of blocks.

8220;I think,for example,there are millions of Iranians who have access to Facebook and they8217;ll also be able to use these so-called VPNs to access this site,8221; Toner said.

In the first 24 hours of the website being launched,majority of the nearly half-a-million hits were from outside Iran.

The virtual embassy,the official said,is an effort to use the Internet,in a transparent way and offer information about the United States.

8220;We want to encourage travel to the United States,8221; Toner said.

After 1979 Iranian revolution and seizure of US embassy in Tehran,both the countries broke off diplomatic relations.