Iran's telecommunications agency announced what it described as a permanent suspension of Google Inc.'s email services, saying a national email service for Iranian citizens would soon be rolled out.

It wasn't clear what effect the order had on Gmail services in Iran, or even if Iran had implemented its new policy. Iranian officials have claimed technological advances in the past that they haven't been able to execute.

A Google spokesman said in a statement, "We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail. We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic, and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly.

Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online."

An Iranian official said the move was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government.

The measure was announced on the eve of the culmination of celebrations to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic.

The move marks another effort by the regime to close the gap with its opposition in controlling Iranian cyberspace, according to Internet security experts.

The government has a tight grip over old media—television, radio and newspapers—but learned during the unrest following the contested election last June that the opposition and its supporters dominated new media, including social networking Web sites like Twitter and Facebook.

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WASHINGTON — Iranian users are having trouble accessing Gmail, Google said Wednesday following a newspaper report that Iran's telecoms agency had permanently suspended the Internet giant's email service.

"We have heard from users in Iran that they are having trouble accessing Gmail," Google said in a statement.

"We can confirm a sharp drop in traffic and we have looked at our own networks and found that they are working properly," the Mountain View, California-based company said.

"Whenever we encounter blocks in our services we try to resolve them as quickly as possibly because we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online," Google said.

"Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control," it added.

Google's statement came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran's telecommunications agency had announced a permanent suspension of Google's Gmail and planned to roll out a national email service for Iranian citizens.

The Journal quoted an unidentified Iranian official as saying the measure was meant to boost local development of Internet technology and to build trust between people and the government.

The reported move comes on the eve of street marches in Iran marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution and opposition plans to hold anti-government demonstrations.

Opposition supporters have since June taken every opportunity to stage protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose June 12 re-election they say was massively rigged.

Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have urged a large turnout by their supporters on Thursday.

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests since the presidential election. In the latest flare-up, eight people died in clashes between police and protesters on December 27 when opposition supporters used the annual Shiite Ashura ceremonies to stage anti-government rallies.

Opposition supporters in Iran have used social networking services such as Google-owned YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other sites in their communications efforts.

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