Iran maintains loyal online voices as internet blackout deepens
Iran’s government said on Tuesday that it is providing special internet access to select users capable of promoting its messaging online, even as the country remains under what monitoring groups call one of the most severe nationwide internet shutdowns ever recorded.
Much of that privileged access is believed to operate through so-called “white SIM cards” – mobile lines exempt from Iran’s filtering system that allow direct access to blocked platforms such as X, Telegram and Instagram.
Iran’s government said on Tuesday that it is providing special internet access to select users capable of promoting its messaging online, even as the country remains under what monitoring groups call one of the most severe nationwide internet shutdowns ever recorded.
Much of that privileged access is believed to operate through so-called “white SIM cards” – mobile lines exempt from Iran’s filtering system that allow direct access to blocked platforms such as X, Telegram and Instagram.
Spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani did not directly refer to those SIM cards but spoke about the government-imposed national internet blackout, saying Tehran is instead offering connectivity to “those who can better deliver the message.”
According to internet monitoring group NetBlocks, the Iranian government has been promoting its agenda through whitelisted online services while the public remains in a digital blackout
“The regime continues to promote its agenda through whitelisted networks, cultivating media assets at home and abroad,” NetBlocks said on Friday, six days into the latest round of nationwide internet shutdown.
This is while President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed in early December to deactivate the so-called “white SIM cards” that grant unfiltered access to a circle of state-linked users.
“We have instructed that these white internet lines be turned black as well, to show what will happen to people if this blackness continues,” he said.
Pezeshkian has repeatedly promised to lift filtering, a key pledge of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Meanwhile, Iran’s nationwide internet shutdown has continued for more than 240 hours, marking one of the most severe government-imposed nationwide blackouts ever recorded globally and the second longest in the country’s history after the January protests, according to NetBlocks.
The group said on Tuesday that Iran has now spent roughly a third of the year 2026 offline.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was inflicting heavy pressure on Iran's Islamic Republic, saying actions taken so far were "breaking their bones."
"There is no doubt that through the actions taken so far we are breaking their bones - and our arm is still outstretched," Netanyahu said during a visit late on Monday to Israel's National Health Emergency Operations Center.
He added that the future of Iran's leadership ultimately depended on the Iranian people, saying Israel hoped they would "throw off the yoke of tyranny."
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, said on Tuesday that Tehran was not seeking a ceasefire in the war.
"We are certainly not seeking a ceasefire. We believe the aggressor must be struck so it learns a lesson and never again thinks of attacking Iran," Ghalibaf wrote on X.
He added that Israel relied on a cycle of "war, negotiations and ceasefire and then war again" to maintain its dominance, and said Iran would break that cycle.
Iran's nationwide internet blackout has reached 240 hours, making it one of the most severe government-imposed shutdowns recorded globally, internet monitor NetBlocks said on Tuesday.
The group said the disruption is the second longest shutdown registered in Iran after the January protests and noted that the country has spent roughly a third of 2026 offline.
Internet connectivity in Iran has fallen to a fraction of normal levels during recent blackouts, severely limiting the flow of information from inside the country, according to monitoring data.
Iran's government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday that military officials should comment on any plans related to the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a strategic asset while the country remains at war.
She said the waterway was a geographic resource given to Iran and that the country would make full use of all available resources while in a state of war, according to comments carried by Iranian state media.
Mohajerani added that Iran did not start the conflict but would bring it to an end. "We did not start the war, but we will be the ones to end it," she said.
She said Iran hoped hostilities would stop but was prepared for all scenarios and added that talks could take place only after the fighting stops. "If the war fully stops, then we can talk," she said.
Mohajerani held Tuesday's news conference at Gandhi Hospital. Previously, Esmaeil Baghaei held a news conference at a school.
