Before Persian New Year: Iran further restricts internet access
For two and a half weeks, the internet in Iran has been restricted. Until now, there were a few exceptions. Now, these have apparently also been closed.
(Image: GagoDesign/Shutterstock.com)
Ahead of the highest holidays in the Iranian calendar, the Islamic Republic has further restricted internet access, blocked more messengers, stopped internet access for regime loyalists, and made it more difficult to use VPN services. Bloomberg reports, citing observations from Netblocks and groups advocating for internet freedom. According to the report, traffic on the messenger Telegram has fallen significantly again, websites previously accessible in Iran have been blocked, and many “white SIM cards” are no longer working. This happened before the fire festival Chahar Shanbe Suri, which marks the start of the celebrations for the Persian New Year and has recently seen repeated protests.
Regime loyalists also without internet access
On LinkedIn, the head of an organization advocating for civil rights in Iran summarized that data centers in Iran are blocking each other, and now not even internal messengers are working. These are applications that have worked even during the extensive internet blockade in Iran but were heavily controlled. Bloomberg specifically mentions an app called Rubika. Furthermore, not only Amir Rashidi from the Miaan Group has observed that numerous so-called “white SIM cards” are no longer working. These allowed supporters of the regime to go online even during the internet blockade.
The background to the tightening of the internet blockade is apparently the fire festival (چهارشنبهسورى), with which people not only in Iran usher in the New Year celebrations (this year on March 20). On the eve of the last Wednesday before the New Year, people jump over fires to drive out all evil from the old year. In recent years, there have repeatedly been protests critical of the regime, which is why the Islamic Republic is likely doing everything it can to prevent a repeat. Nevertheless, on Tuesday evening, at least some videos emerged from Iran showing that the festivities took place in at least some locations.
Videos by heise
The current internet blockade was imposed on February 28, when Israel and the USA began to carry out air strikes on Iran. Among those killed was Ali Khamenei; his son has since been installed as the new Supreme Leader. Iran has also begun attacking various neighboring countries. Among the targets were two data centers of Amazon subsidiary AWS. With the internet blockade, the regime aims to nip protests in the bud, among other things. The previous internet blockade was imposed after what were likely the largest demonstrations in the history of the Islamic Republic at the beginning of the year. When communication with the rest of the world was interrupted, they were brutally suppressed.
(mho)
