Mourners chant against Khamenei at funeral of young couple

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has now lasted more than 180 hours, surpassing the core length of the 2019 shutdown, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said on Friday.

The group said there had been no partial or regional restoration of connectivity so far.

“In 2019, it was only after connectivity was restored that the scale of the brutal crackdown became known,” NetBlocks said in a post on X.

Thousands of Iraqi militiamen have crossed into Iran to help Tehran suppress ongoing protests, according to a European military source and an Iraqi security source cited by CNN on Thursday.

The Iraqi security source said nearly 5,000 fighters from powerful Iraqi militias had entered Iran through two border crossings in southern Iraq, while the European source said hundreds of Shiite fighters crossed under the cover of religious pilgrimages.

The fighters were reported to be operating in several sensitive areas, including the western city of Hamedan, according to a European military assessment seen by CNN.

Iran International reported earlier this month that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias had begun recruiting and deploying fighters to assist Iranian forces in cracking down on protests.

That report said hundreds of Shiite militiamen from groups including Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and the Badr Organization had been sent into Iran through multiple border crossings.

The fighters were transferred under the guise of pilgrimage trips and gathered at a base in Ahvaz before being dispatched to various regions, Iran International reported.

New Zealand has temporarily closed its embassy in Iran and evacuated all diplomatic staff, citing what it described as a worsening security situation, officials said on Friday.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said all New Zealand staff had left Iran safely on commercial flights overnight and that operations had been shifted to Ankara.

The ministry said its ability to provide consular assistance to New Zealanders in Iran was now “extremely limited” and warned that ongoing communications disruptions were making it hard for people to contact family and friends.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said earlier this week that New Zealand was “appalled” by the escalation of violence and repression in the country, and condemned a crackdown by Iranian security forces that he said included the killing of protesters.

Iran plans to maintain its nationwide internet blackout until at least the Iranian New Year in late March, IranWire reported on Thursday, citing media activists briefed by the government spokesperson.

The outlet said government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told media activists that access to international online services would not be restored before Nowruz, which falls around March 20.

“The shutdown, now in its second week, is also expected to remain in place until after the end of the 40-day mourning period for those killed in recent nationwide protests,” IranWire said.

Internet monitoring group NetBlocks said Iran’s current blackout had passed 180 hours, exceeding the core length of the 2019 shutdown, with no partial or regional restoration so far.

“In 2019, it was only after connectivity was restored that the scale of the brutal crackdown became known,” the group said in a post on social media.

Iran International reported earlier this week that Iranian authorities were in the final stages of rolling out what sources described as an “internet kill switch” project, designed to enable prolonged nationwide shutdowns.

That project aims to move core digital services, banking platforms and public infrastructure onto a national network, making extended blackouts easier to enforce, according to the report.

"The pampered offspring of Iran’s ruling elite are living the American Dream as the country’s brutal regime kills protesters by the thousands — and fed-up Iranians in California and across the US want them out," the outlet wrote.

The report said two online petitions are demanding the deportation of Eissa Hashemi, the son of former Iranian vice president Masoumeh Ebtekar, and Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of Ali Larijani, who currently serves as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

According to the Post, Hashemi lives in California and works as an academic, while Ardeshir-Larijani resides in Georgia and is a medical professor.

The petitions said that allowing relatives of Iranian leaders to live in the United States is unjust as Iranian authorities continue a deadly crackdown on protesters at home.

The development comes as the United States imposed new sanctions on Thursday against Ali Larijani, citing his role in overseeing the government’s response to nationwide protests.

The measures were part of a broader sanctions package targeting senior Iranian officials and entities accused of involvement in the violent crackdown on demonstrators.

Iran’s deadly crackdown on nationwide protests has drawn international attention, with the United Nations Security Council holding an emergency session on Thursday at the request of the United States to discuss developments in Iran and the reported use of lethal force against demonstrators.

In the meeting, the United States and several other countries condemned the violence and urged restraint, while Iranian representatives pushed back against foreign criticism.