A widespread internet blackout hit Iran on Saturday night, disrupting global access for millions once more, the first such shutdown since mass outages across the country during the conflict with Israel.
NetBlocks, which monitors global internet freedom, confirmed the outage, noting “Live network data show a major disruption to internet connectivity in Iran.” The shutdown, which lasted roughly two hours, echoed user reports from across the country.
“The flow of messages in favor of the government increased after the blackout,” a user named Maryam posted on X, suggesting the internet restrictions were designed to “silence critics and opposition.”
NetBlocks also pointed to the recent conflict between Israel and the Islamic Republic, during which Iran’s security forces cut telecommunications nationwide; an action carried out by Iranian security officials under the pretext of “safeguarding national security,” but met with widespread negative reactions both domestically and abroad.
IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, cited the state-run Telecommunications Infrastructure Company, reporting a national-level disruption in international connectivity that affected most internet service providers Saturday night. Yet government officials have not publicly addressed the cause.
Many Iranian users complained that while ordinary citizens lost access, accounts linked to state figures continued operating normally. One user, Soheil, posted: “People don’t have internet, but government supporters still do. Cut theirs too, so they stop getting on everyone’s nerves.”
Another user, Masoud, questioned how prominent establishment figures like former ministers Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi remained active on X despite the blackout.
Zarif had earlier posted that his account was limited by platform owner Elon Musk—prompting backlash.
“Kicking 90 million Iranians offline, then crying about a missing blue check,” one user wrote in response.
It comes as the cyber warfare between Israel and Iran steps up in spite of the ceasefire.
A shadow war of mutual cyber-attacks between Iran and Israel has replaced missile fire and air strikes as a fragile truce holds, security experts told Iran International.
