When we say internet blackout in Iran, we do not mean slow internet.
We do not mean limited access.
We mean total disconnection to the international Iternet — deliberatea and nationwide.

My personal experience (January 8–16)

I was in Iran on January 8.

On January 8, at around 9:00 PM, everything was cut.

◼ Mobile internet
◼ Home internet
◼ Phone calls
◼ Even internal calls inside the country

Nothing worked.

The next day, January 9, I was one of the very few people who managed to leave the country.
Most flights were cancelled or heavily delayed.

At 12:00 PM on January 9, I could only make brief calls to close friends — just enough to say goodbye and make sure they were safe.

I was crying constantly.
I could barely breathe throughout the entire trip.

January 9 to January 16: silence

From January 9 until January 16, Iran was under a complete blackout.

◼ I could not talk to my family
◼ There was no internet access
◼ Phone lines were mostly unusable

The only reason I heard my family’s voices at all was through a person who had Starlink.

Finding that person was extremely difficult.
Even then, I could only hear my family — not speak to them.

Since January 15, some people inside Iran (rare parts) can make calls again, but only by paying 500,000 toman 👇🏽  for a single call.

◼ This amount is extremely high compared to real wages in Iran
◼ Many elderly people cannot afford it
◼ Many do not even know these options exist because it can only be done from Iran to outside, not the other way around.

This is not the first time

The Islamic Republic has used internet blackouts before.

Aban 1398 (November 2019):

◼ A nationwide internet shutdown lasting about one week
◼ It is estimated more than 1500 people were killed while the country was silenced
◼ The scale of the violence became known only after access was restored

During wartime and major crackdowns, the same method is used:

◼ Communication is cut
◼ People are isolated
◼ Violence (mass killing) happens without witnesses
◼ The narrative is controlled

This is how they could manage to stay alive. Their whitewashers outside of Iran 

What “blackout” actually means

When Iranians say internet blackout, this is what we mean:

◼ The general population has no access
◼ Families cannot contact each other
◼ Journalists cannot report
◼ Videos cannot be shared in real time
◼ Emergency help cannot be reached

A few leaked videos do not mean access. Leaked? how?👇🏽

About Starlink

◼ Starlink is illegal in Iran
◼ It is extremely rare
◼ It is inaccessible to the vast majority of people

Without Starlink, the blackout would be absolute.

There is no way back

Iranians are risking everything —
their lives, their families, their futures —
just to be heard.

Not to dominate.
Not to threaten.
Only to exist.

This is not the first blackout.
But it must be the last.

Long live Iran,
the land of free people.

A moment of silence for my beloved countrymates who are estimated to be over 25,000 people
Who have been brutally killed.

A sea of blood lies between us
and this tyrannical regime.

Update: Internet blackout during the current war

As I am writing this update in March 2026, Iran has been under a renewed near-total internet blackout since February 28, 2026, when Israel and the United States began coordinated military strikes on Islamic Republic military and IRGC infrastructure.

That means more than two weeks — over 300 hours — of near total digital isolation, with internet connectivity in Iran measured at around 1–4% of normal levels, effectively disconnecting the country from the global internet.

This time it is happening while Israel and the U.S. military are targeting the regime’s military infrastructure and IRGC forces.

Instead of protecting civilians, the regime’s first instinct, as always, is the same as always:

Silence the country.

Cutting the internet during war is not just repression. It is considered by many experts and human rights organizations to be a form of collective punishment.

Because when you cut communication during a crisis, you are not only controlling information — you are putting millions of lives at risk.

Why regimes shut down the internet

The Islamic Republic does not shut down the internet because of “security.”

They do it for one main reason:

to control the narrative.

When the internet is cut:

◼ People inside the country cannot share videos of what is happening
◼ Journalists cannot verify events
◼ The outside world cannot see the scale of violence
◼ The regime can tell its own story without witnesses

This is exactly what happened during the Aban 1398 massacre (November 2019) and 18, 19 of Day 1404 Massacre (January 2026).

Only after the internet came back did the truth begin to appear but still a fraction of it.

How a blackout destroys daily life

For people outside Iran, it might  sound like a technical issue.It is not.

It breaks the basic functioning of life.

◼ Families in the diaspora cannot reach their parents, children, or siblings inside Iran
◼ People inside Iran cannot receive evacuation warnings or safety information
◼ Workers who depend on online income lose their jobs instantly
◼ Businesses collapse overnight
◼ Students lose access to education
◼ Emergency information cannot circulate

Imagine an entire country suddenly cut off from the world. No messages. No maps. No information. No news. Just silence.

This is what millions of Iranians experience every time the regime flips that switch.😡

The hidden system: "white SIM cards"

Many people outside Iran do not know that even during blackouts, some individuals still have internet access.

This is because of something called "white SIM cards".

White SIM cards are special SIM cards given to people connected to the regime:

◼ government officials
◼ security institutions
◼ state media
◼ regime-connected companies

These SIM cards bypass censorship and filtering.

While ordinary people lose all access, these privileged networks remain connected.

They can post online. They can spread propaganda. They can shape the narrative while the population is silenced.

In other words:

The blackout is not for everyone. It is only for the people.

The VPN economy

Even before a total blackout, the Iranian internet is heavily restricted.

Most global platforms are blocked.

◼ Instagram
◼ YouTube
◼ Twitter/X
◼ Telegram (periodically)
◼ many international websites

To access them, people must use VPNs.

But here is the irony:

Many of these VPN services are secretly sold by networks connected to the regime itself.

So the same system that blocks the internet also profits from selling access to it.

It is a censorship economy.

Why Iranians call them invaders?

When a government cuts communication during war, isolatesthe people of the country, and hides reality from the world, it is no longer behaving like a government. It behaves like an occupying force. that's why many Iranians say this openly now:

The Islamic Republic is not simply a government.
A network that has taken control of the country’s administrative institutions and uses them as tools of power.

For decades it has exploited Iran’s natural resources, enriched its own networks, and violently suppressed the people of the country.

It functions less like a normal state and more like a closed ideological cult — a system that captured the machinery of government, profits from the nation’s wealth, and maintains control through fear, censorship, and killing.

The institutions of the country exist, but they have been hijacked and repurposed to protect the regime rather than the people of Iran.

That's why your Iranian friends see it as an occupying mafia inside Iran.

Against people. Against Iranian's culture. Against history of Iran.

Iran is an ancient civilization that survived invasions for thousands of years. But today the greatest threat to Iran’s people, nature, and heritage comes from the regime with the mask of ruling it but actually ruining it.

If you are reading this outside Iran, remember:

When the internet disappears in Iran,

it does not mean nothing is happening.

It usually means something terrible is.

Long live Iran,
The land of free people.