Internet blockade in Iran apparently eased after almost 50 days
For almost 50 days, people in Iran have not been able to communicate with the outside world online or by phone. Now the blockade has apparently been eased.
(Image: BUTENKOV ALEKSEI/Shutterstock.com)
After more than 48 days of internet blockade, the Iranian regime has apparently eased the conditions; according to media reports, international landline calls are now possible again and Google services are accessible. This is evident from a statement from the news portal Khabar-Fouri, which also explicitly mentions that people in Iran can now access Chinese AI technology DeepSeek again. However, calls from abroad to mobile phones remain blocked, and access to Google services such as Gmail is not yet stable. The reasons for the easing are unclear, but a ceasefire has been in effect for a week and a half in the war between Israel and the USA and Iran. Exempt were regime loyalists for propaganda purposes.
Expensive internet blockade
The longest internet blockade ever imposed on a country previously connected to the internet was implemented on February 28. At that time, Israel and the USA began to carry out air strikes on Iran and killed Ali Khamenei, among others. His son has since been installed as the new Supreme Leader. Iran then began attacking neighboring countries. Among those hit were two data centers of the Amazon subsidiary AWS. With the internet blockade, the regime wanted to nip protests in the bud, among other things. In January, the internet in Iran was blocked after what were probably the largest demonstrations in the history of the Islamic Republic. When communication was interrupted, they were brutally suppressed.
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Shortly before the ceasefire began, Iran's government spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohadscherani, ruled out free public access to the global internet for now. Mohadscherani claimed that the government was pursuing the goal of free internet access. However, other considerations would apply during wartime. As a result of the blockade, online trade in the country has almost completely collapsed. Hundreds of thousands of companies are affected. Many traders rely on social networks like Instagram to advertise products and services. Just on Thursday, the organization Netblocks, which specializes in internet blockades, announced that the blockade in Iran had cost the country 1.8 billion US dollars.
(mho)
