Iran eases digital isolation after war and protests / Unsplash / John
Iranian authorities have announced the restoration of international internet access after nearly three months of widespread restrictions. The decision was made amid war, protests and the country's transition to a domestic digital infrastructure.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the restoration of international internet access after a nearly 90-day network shutdown, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media and a spokesman for the country's communications ministry.
Why was Iran disconnected from the global internet for almost three months?
According to the organization NetBlocks , most Iranians were without full access to the global network for 87 days. Only a few users were able to bypass the restrictions with the help of expensive VPN services and specialized tools.
The authorities have not yet specified when and in what format the country will be fully reconnected to the global internet. It is also unknown whether access to all services previously blocked by Iranian censorship will be restored.
The lockdown began after protests
The first large-scale restrictions were introduced on January 8 amid anti-government protests that swept across various regions of the country. At the time, the authorities explained the shutdowns as a need to control the situation and combat “destabilization.”
In February, access to the network was partially restored , but after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, the country effectively found itself in digital isolation again. It was after the escalation of the conflict that the government returned to strict restrictions on international traffic.
Reuters notes that even in normal times, Iran remains one of the countries with the most tightly controlled internet space. Many international websites, platforms and services in the country are officially blocked or operate with significant restrictions.
Betting on internal internet
According to the Times of Israel , in parallel, the Iranian authorities have been actively developing their own digital infrastructure in recent years, which operates separately from the global network. This is the so-called national intranet – an internal system of online services for government institutions, education, and everyday use.
It was to this network that many critical services were transferred during the lockdown. In particular, schools and educational institutions continued to operate through local online platforms that were independent of the international internet.
Experts have long noted that Iran is consistently building a “sovereign internet” model that allows the state to isolate its internal digital space in the event of a political or military crisis. A similar approach is also partly used by China and Russia, where the authorities seek to strengthen control over information flows and digital infrastructure.
VPNs have become almost the only way to access the Internet
During the lockdown, demand for VPN services in Iran increased dramatically . According to NetBlocks, access to the open internet was mostly available to users who could afford expensive paid services to bypass restrictions.
As a result, a significant part of the population has effectively lost the ability to use international social networks, messengers, cloud platforms, and foreign media. For businesses, the IT sector, and freelancers, such restrictions have been a serious blow to work and communication with the outside world.