Iranian Minister of Telecommunications Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi says the nationwide interruption in internet access in Iran last week was a deliberate attempt to protect university entrance exam questions from prying eyes.

He told reporters on Monday July 15 that internet connection was cut off at 210 nods in various parts of Iran ahead of the exams.

Jahromi added that he was on a provincial visit at the time, and when he returned asked his colleagues about the connection cut-off and they told him about the preventative measure.

"I asked why didn't they use jammers instead of cutting off connections," He said.

However, Jahromi did not elaborate further and also did not say which government body had cut off the connections.

During the past week, many internet users attributed the impaired access to the net to possible cyber-exercises by the government to measure the degree of control on the net access.