About four hours after the first attacks hit Iran, the country was once again plunged into a complete internet blackout, severely reducing the information leaving the country and the ability of Iranians to communicate with each other.
A small fraction of this outage appears to be the result of infrastructure damage caused by US or Israeli attacks, possibly to a fiber optic cable, according to Doug Madory of internet analysis firm Kentik. There appeared to be several small outages affecting multiple networks, which could be caused by technical faults such as a fiber cut or a power outage, he said.
But the blackout appears to be primarily the result of an intentional move by a regime desperate to maintain power.
“It’s about control and even stopping the demise (of the regime),” said researchers from the Ainita Project and the Outline Foundation, which focus on Internet infrastructure and providing solutions against digital censorship.
“Because if you suddenly give in and give everyone connection and access to everyone else, then they could very easily band together and finish the job, so to speak.”
Iran completely shut down its internet for the first time on January 8, weeks after anti-government protests escalated over the price of the currency. That complete shutdown lasted almost three weeks, until the government appeared to relax (but not completely end) restrictions on internet access on January 28. It allowed Iranian authorities to partly conceal a bloody crackdown on Iranian protesters that is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people.
The latest blackout was almost as total as the one in January, said the researchers, who work on Iran’s digital censorship and internet infrastructure. Mobile phones appear to work within the country but, apart from that, all of Iran’s connection to the outside world has been extinguished. Those without access to Starlink or alternative ways to communicate are left isolated.
The communications blackout had increased confusion within Iran, investigators said. On the one hand, it could lead more people to stay home: Iranians may fear going out on the streets if they can’t communicate with each other or know where it’s safe and where it’s not. On the other hand, it can make people congregate, because otherwise they would have no information.
“You’re taking away people’s ability to control each other,” they said. “But there is always an element of risk, both for the government and for the people.”
Iran had long sought to control the flow of information within its borders, researchers said, going so far as to beam microwave signals over Tehran’s rooftops in recent years to jam the signals and prevent Iranians from tuning into foreign televisions and radios.
“They really went out of their way to block those channels, even if it had significant ramifications for the health of the country,” the researchers said.
This current outage recalled the scary days after the fall of the shah and a decade of war in which it was almost impossible to obtain information about missing relatives or about the outside world, they said.
The internet blackout has added to a growing sense among ordinary Iranians that there is no escape, even as Türkiye closes its land border and airspace.
“You feel like you’re trapped, right? On a normal day before all this, where could Iranians go without…getting a visa?” they said.
“There is no escape route. And when airspace is closed, when flights are closed, when borders are closed, what else is there but a trap?”
