Iran is witnessing one of the longest mass internet shutdowns at the national level, now ranking second in duration in world history. According to monitoring organizations, access to the global network remains virtually completely blocked for most of the country’s population, leading to the isolation of millions of citizens.
This is reported by Finway
Duration and consequences of the large-scale shutdown
Analysts note that the shutdown has lasted over 40 days, exceeding the 1000-hour mark. This makes the shutdown in Iran one of the longest for a single state. According to NetBlocks, as of April 11, the duration of the outages exceeded 43 days, and internet traffic does not exceed 1% of pre-war levels. Despite the restrictions, minimal web and DNS traffic still passes through certain IPv4 routes, which, according to Cloudflare, is explained by the existence of a whitelist system for a limited number of users and internal services.
Iran’s state media reports that partial access is provided through the National Information Network — the country’s internal project that allows access only to pre-approved websites. The near-total shutdown resulted from restrictions imposed on January 8 during mass protests against the regime. Although traffic was partially restored later, as of February 16, its level remained reduced by 50%. Iran’s Minister of Communications, Sattar Hashemi, previously reported that the shutdown in January caused the country’s economy losses of $35.7 million daily, and online sales fell by 80%.
Risks for Starlink owners and international resonance
Starlink has not become an alternative for Iranians: the authorities block the signal using military means and actively search for terminal owners, threatening them with execution under recently enacted legislation. In addition, Iranian authorities openly threaten attacks on the infrastructure of international tech companies, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
Human Rights Watch has called the current government shutdown a violation of fundamental rights and warned that it hinders access to emergency information during active military strikes, while Amnesty International on April 10 marked the threshold of 1000 hours with a public call for the Iranian authorities to restore access to the network for the population.
During large-scale protests and military actions, a complete internet shutdown not only isolates people from the world but also creates significant barriers to accessing emergency information. The international community urges the Iranian authorities to immediately restore network access for all citizens.