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Iran is ramping up its control of domestic cyberspace with a closed new state-run intranet, according to a US-based advocacy group, after a nationwide internet blackout cloaked the deadliest crackdown on protests in nearly half a century.
“Like North Korea, the Islamic Republic has been working to build an intranet, and it is scary. It will be blocking off Iran," said Neda Bolourchi, the executive director of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans.
The Washington-based PAAIA works to amplify Iranian American voices and advocate for policy solutions on Capitol Hill.
Iran's internet blackout began on January 8 as the uprisings spread nationwide and security forces launched a sweeping crackdown.
At least 12,000 people were killed, most of them over January 8 and 9 according to medics and government sources who spoke to Iran International.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has since acknowledged that “several thousands” were killed, while doctors say most deaths occurred over just two days during what they describe as the most violent phase of repression in the Islamic Republic’s 47-year history.
With near-total internet and phone shutdowns in place, independent verification remains extremely difficult, and medical sources warn the true toll could be higher.
Where does the blackout stand now?
Bolourchi said the shutdown remains severe but not absolute, and that the small openings are not born of restraint but aim to support a bare minimum of business activity especially in the banking sector.
“We’re getting reports that landlines are sporadically available and that some of the throttling has been reduced,” she said.
A limited number of calls and messages are still getting out through platforms such as WhatsApp, though at dramatically reduced levels.
The Islamic Republic, she explained, cannot fully cut connectivity without paralyzing its own systems. Banks, hospitals and parts of the economy still depend on the internet to function, forcing authorities to allow just enough access to keep the state running while the broader population remains largely cut off.
Satellite internet, once a critical lifeline, has also come under heavy pressure. Bolourchi said authorities are using jamming equipment to disrupt Starlink connections while simultaneously confiscating receivers, which are visible and easy to locate.
She warned that possession of such tools has become increasingly dangerous, as the clerical establishment expands the use of severe charges traditionally reserved for enemies of the state.
The length of the blackout itself, Bolourchi said, points to something more permanent taking shape.
Unlike previous shutdowns that proved economically unsustainable after a few days, this current outage has persisted, suggesting the Islamic Republic has made significant progress in separating government infrastructure from public access.
That shift, she warned, could leave ordinary Iranians trapped inside a sealed digital ecosystem, unable to communicate freely with the outside world even after protests subside.
Bolourchi argued that the United States still has leverage if it chooses to use it, pointing to legislation already passed by Congress that was intended to fund internet circumvention tools for Iran, including support for satellite connectivity and VPNs.
Congress, she said, went further than requested by approving $15 million annually for these efforts.
“A lot could have been done over the past year that would be helping the people of Iran right now,” Bolourchi said, citing bureaucratic and funding delays. “Instead, we’re always in a reactive position.”
US Republican Representative Joe Wilson on Tuesday condemned Iran’s authorities over mass killings of civilians and accused Russia’s president of waging destructive wars, drawing parallels between the two leaders.
“Courageous Iranians are being slaughtered in streets, homes, and hospitals by the tens of thousands,” he wrote on X. “The deranged terrorist regime that pledges death to America and Israel must be stopped.”
In the same post, Wilson criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, accusing him of attacking infrastructure and civilians.
“For 25 years, Putin has cried ‘poor Russia’ as he invades sovereign countries,” Wilson wrote, referring to strikes on energy infrastructure during winter and the use of drones against civilians.
Wilson described Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as “a cancer to the civilized world,” and said international action could stop what he called the threat posed by both leaders.
After the January 8-9 mass killing of protestors in Iran, state media broadcasts fresh snow falls and other serene scenes bearing little resemblance to the agony of many Iranians reeling from the historic violence.
Official outlets show bundled up children frolicking and families shopping, suggesting normal life restored. Eyewitness accounts from inside Iran and testimony from those who have recently left describe instead a country gripped by grief, fear and economic paralysis.
Prominent journalist Elaheh Mohammadi—whose report about Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in morality police custody, helped trigger the widespread protests of 2022—described the mood.
“For the past day or two, our VPNs have been working only sporadically—maybe for half an hour to an hour each day—allowing us brief access to the internet. We use that time to let people know we’re still alive,” she said on X.
“The city smells of death. In all my life, I have never seen snow fall in Tehran without anyone even smiling,” she added. “Everyone is in shock; the entire country is in mourning.”
For nearly two weeks, Iran’s internet has been almost entirely shut down, with little sign it will be soon restored. Aside from a handful of government-affiliated outlets and state television, access to news has been virtually nonexistent.
Fleeing the tragedy
Those who have managed to leave Iran by land or air have become key sources of information. Yet many say that once across the border, they too fall into an information vacuum, cut off from reliable updates from home.
Mortaza, who left Iran for a neighboring country several days after the killings, says satellite television has become the primary source of news for many inside the country. Even those broadcasts, he adds, are intermittently disrupted by jamming.
Without exception, those interviewed say the scale of the killings far exceeded what many had anticipated. Violence was so widespread, they say, that almost everyone knows at least one of the dead personally.
Across neighborhoods, families and friends have erected traditional mourning displays—hejleh—decorated with flowers, candles, mirrors, lights and framed photographs of young victims.
The structures resemble wedding canopies, symbolizing lives cut short before marriage.
Banners announcing the victims’ “passing,” often accompanied by poetry or phrases such as “martyr of the homeland,” are visible throughout cities.
What tragedy?
News programs on the state broadcaster repeatedly air footage of vehicles and buildings allegedly set ablaze by protesters—now described not merely as “rioters,” but as “US- and Israel-backed terrorists.”
These segments are interspersed with televised interrogations and forced confessions of individuals who have not appeared in court, alongside images of daily life and repeated claims that foreign-backed "terrorist" plots have been thwarted.
In recent days, the judiciary has issued repeated warnings promising harsh punishment and “no leniency” for those accused of participating in the unrest.
Continued repression
The crackdown has extended well beyond those who took part in protests.
Mohammad Saedi-Nia, a prominent investor and owner of the Saeedi-Nia café chain, was arrested after closing his cafés during calls to protest by exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi. His businesses—along with those of former national footballer Voria Ghafouri—were shut down for supporting protesters.
Saeedi-Nia’s assets, estimated at around $20 million, have reportedly been confiscated.
Dozens of athletes, artists and intellectuals who expressed support for the demonstrations have also had cases opened against them; some have been detained.
The judiciary says assets have been seized to ensure that, if convictions follow, alleged damage to public or private property can be recovered.
Mostafa, who communicated with Iran International via Starlink from his workplace, says traffic in Tehran is unusually light. Only a small number of street-facing shops have opened, he said, and the gold market remains shut.
Economic standstill
Most universities are closed, with final exams moved online. Many businesses are effectively dormant: transactions have stalled because prices depend on the dollar, and the currency market has frozen without a clear exchange rate.
Eyewitnesses also report growing shortages of basic goods. Cooking oil is scarce and selling at several times its previous price when available.
Prices of staples such as rice, eggs, chicken and meat have surged, while consumers limit purchases to essentials and shopkeepers hesitate to sell non-perishable goods.
State media deny that conditions resemble martial law, but eyewitnesses insist otherwise.
Many people have deleted photos and videos of protests from their phones, fearing random stops and searches by security forces.
Some witnesses say young people have been forced to expose their bodies in public to show they bear no marks from pellet guns or rubber bullets—signs authorities use to identify those who took part in demonstrations.
Exiled Queen Farah Pahlavi condemned the recent bloodshed in Iran as a “crime against humanity” and declared January 23, a National Day of Mourning for protesters killed in what she called a “widespread massacre.”
“You, the great nation of Iran, affectionately call me 'The Mother of Iran.' The Mother of Iran joins all mothers in Iran who have been denied the right to mourn the loss of their dearest children during this ruthless massacre,” she said in a message posted on X.
US President Donald Trump is pressing advisers for what he has described as “decisive” options against Iran, even after pulling back from strikes last week, as Washington moves additional military assets into the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, US fighter jets have already arrived in the region and an aircraft carrier strike group is sailing toward the Persian Gulf, moves that could give Trump expanded military options if he decides to act against Tehran.
US officials told the Journal that Trump has repeatedly used the word “decisive” in internal discussions, prompting the Pentagon and White House to refine a range of options — from limited strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities to more far-reaching plans aimed at weakening or toppling the Islamic Republic.
