A total internet blackout across Iran has entered the fourth day as reports of nationwide unrest continued to to trickle through the limited resources still active in the country. Media reports suggest thousands being detained and hundreds killed since the unrest began 15 days back over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which now is trading over 1.4 million to $1.
Iran is one of the most heavily sanctioned country in the world mainly due to its persistence towards the nuclear program. The protests are seen by the western countries as a direct challenge to Iran’s theocracy.
Also read: Israeli Hackers Claim Responsibility for Internet Disruption in Iran
Internet Blackout for Digital Censorship
Its been more than 84 hours and counting since Iran pulled the plug on the internet services across the country to likely implement digital censorship, noted the internet traffic monitoring company Netblocks.
The Internet blackout was enforced on January 8, around 10 PM , when mobile phone networks across Iran, including International phone calls, were restricted, the Iran Wire reported. Even apps like Yolla, that are used by many for doing voice calls into Iran confirmed that call restrictions were being applied. Banking systems, ride-hailing apps, online shopping platforms, and domestic social networks, all went offline. were blocked too.
NetBlocks reported Iran’s internet connectivity at a bare minimum of 1% today, which effectively cuts-off the public not only with the outside world but also zeroes their ability to communicate with one another at a time of crisis. Over 80 million people remain affected due to this internet blackout.
One of the favored alternative – a plan B – for the Iranians was switching to Elon Musk’s Starlink services, which had seen an uptick in subscriptions since the 2022 demonstrations that erupted in Iran due to the death of Mahsa Amini. A similar 12-days long internet shutdown was enforced at the time. However, media reports suggest the Iranian authorities have likely developed a “Kill Switch” that’s been disrupting the services of Starlink receivers since the 12-days war with Israel, in June, last year. Starlink works on the GPS signals and Iran was likely using GPS jammers to make drone attacks ineffective.
Some experts familiar with this said they have observed nearly 80% drop in the data packets from Starlink in certain areas in the last few days, indicating Starlink access issues.
Trump Considers Cyberattacks on Tehran
The internet outages in Iran coincided with US President Donald Trump’s Sunday statement that he planned to discuss with Musk about restoring internet access in Iran. Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran of possible “actions”, and the US was reportedly weighing in both military action and cyberattacks on Iran.
Trump will be briefed on Tuesday on “some kinetic and many non-kinetic” options in Iran, two administration officials familiar with the operations told Politico news agency on Sunday.
Concurrently, Trump is also vouching for Musk to fix the internet censorship in Iran as he did in Ukraine during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“We may get the internet going if that’s possible… He’s [Elon] very good at that kind of thing, he’s got very good company,” Trump said on Sunday.
As a workaround – apart from Starlink terminals – for the Internet blackout in Iran, NetBlocks suggested using shortwave/HAM radio, cell towers near the border areas, and direct-to-cell satellite.
Meanwhile, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission has asked the Iranian government to immediately restore internet and mobile connectivity and to put an end to “violent repression.” The UN. expressed concern over information indicating that the National Security Council had instructed security forces to carry out repression in a decisive and “unrestrained” manner.
