Iranian search engine in offing

A top Iranian information official says studies have got underway on a project to develop a national search engine dubbed ‘Ya Haq.’

“The project aims to meet the local needs of Iranian users in the country,” Director General for Research and Development at the Iranian Information Technology Company Hadi Malek-Parast was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Saturday.

“International search engines Google and Yahoo are used to meet domestic and global needs of users, but the national search engine is merely aimed at offering services to Iranian users inside the country,” he said.

“The national search engine will be the first priority for governmental and non-governmental institutions to offer information to the public; however, the information available in all servers inside the country can be searched and reached through this very search engine as well,” he underlined.

The official added the national search engine has numerous applications and advantages over other search engines.

“Only via the Internet is it possible to have access to Google, Yahoo and the like,” he highlighted.

“Nevertheless, one has to get connected to the national search engine through the domestic intranet, which is much cheaper than using the Internet,” Malek-Parast said.

Quick search and high security are among other merits of Ya Haq search engine, he said.

The official underscored the Iranian search engine is scheduled to enter service by early 2012.