Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 12th week and is now in its 78th day, internet monitor NetBlocks said, describing the shutdown as an unprecedented disruption for a country of 90 million people.
NetBlocks said the blackout has left Iran largely offline and continues to erode human rights, the economy and basic liberties at scale.
Iranian state television aired several programs on Friday night in which presenters appeared with rifles in studio segments, saying they were learning basic weapons handling and would join the war if necessary.
The broadcasts, seen on at least three programs, were picked up by Iranian outlets and drew reactions online.
Some social media users framed the segments as a sign of wartime mobilization.
Jackson Hinkle, an American political commentator and influencer known for strongly pro-Iran and anti-Israel views, wrote on X that Iranian state TV was showing how to use and fire an AK-47 as “prep for US ground invasion.”
Another account focused on weapons and conflict footage said Iranian TV channels were giving basic weapons-handling instructions, adding that the rifle shown appeared to be an early East German MPi-KMS assault rifle.
The segments came amid heightened rhetoric and uncertainty over whether fighting involving Iran, the United States and Israel could resume, but the broadcasts themselves appeared limited to symbolic or instructional studio displays.
Iran’s deepening economic crisis is pushing cafés and coffee culture toward collapse, as soaring prices and falling incomes force both businesses and customers to cut back.
Mohsen Mobarra, head of the union overseeing coffee shops in Tehran, told economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad that café operating costs have more than doubled while customer numbers have fallen by as much as 50 percent in recent months, with up to 40 percent of cafés shutting down.
“Continuing operations does not mean profitability,” he said. “The profits of these businesses are steadily shrinking. As a result, cafés that rent their locations or lack strong financial backing are heading toward closure.”
Over the past two decades, cafés became an important part of urban life in Iran, taking root in Tehran before spreading across the country.
With affordable entertainment options limited, they emerged as some of the few accessible spaces where young Iranians could socialize, work and spend time outside the home.
Many evolved into more than places to drink coffee or eat light meals. They hosted poetry nights, small music performances, photography exhibitions and informal gatherings, becoming rare spaces for social interaction at a time when few other public spaces remained accessible.
Until a few months ago, Tehran alone had around 6,000 cafés of different sizes in operation. But the collapse in consumers’ purchasing power has hit the industry hard.
Sanaz, a 28-year-old receptionist at a private company, said she and her friends used to visit cafés several times a week. But now, with sharp increases in the costs of food, transportation and housing, even such small pleasures require careful calculation.
“I have to calculate every expense, even this simple form of entertainment, just to make it to the end of the month — assuming I don’t lose my job,” she said.
“If I lose my job, after years of financial independence, I’ll have to move back to my parents’ home in my hometown.”
The closures and downsizing have also eliminated jobs for many workers, most of them young people and women.
Shana, 26, completed professional barista training before finding work at one of the branches of the well-known Saedi Nia café chain.
In January, the chain’s branches were abruptly shut down after the owner voiced support for opposition protesters. Shortly afterward, war broke out.
“Even cafés that have survived the economic downturn are not hiring new staff anymore,” she said. “Many are actually laying off existing employees.”
“I have no hope that even by learning new skills like cooking or other work, I’ll be able to find a job. The economy keeps getting worse every day, and the job market is shrinking.”
Coffee itself is also becoming a luxury.
Tea remains Iran’s dominant traditional drink, but coffee consumption expanded rapidly in recent years. Now, however, the sharp rise in foreign currency prices and disruptions to imports have pushed coffee prices so high that many households are cutting consumption or abandoning it altogether.
Although global coffee prices have declined, the cost of coffee beans in Iran — largely imported through the United Arab Emirates before the war — has nearly doubled compared to pre-war levels.
The increase has directly affected café prices. With rents and other expenses also rising, the price of a cup of coffee in some cafés has climbed by as much as four times.
One café owner told Donya-e-Eqtesad that even cafés specializing in basic coffee drinks are seeing falling demand because many people can no longer justify going out even for coffee.
Tara, the manager of an advertising company with ten employees, said coffee has become so expensive that even buying it for office use is increasingly difficult.
“For the first time in the past twenty years, I’ve had to stop buying coffee for the office kitchen, where it was always available for employees alongside tea,” she said.
“It’s not just about coffee prices. Since last summer’s war, work has effectively been frozen. Clients have even canceled half-finished projects, and everyone knows the company is taking its last breaths.”
“If this situation continues, we’ll have no choice but to shut down.”
Iran’s government policy is to open access to the global internet and move gradually toward lifting online restrictions, Elyas Hazrati, head of the government’s Information Council, said.
“The enemy’s strategy was Iran’s unconditional surrender, but the Iranian people showed they are willing to negotiate, but they will not surrender,” Hazrati said.
He added that after the war, the government should take a broader approach and make room for all Iranians to participate in running the country.
Iran remains in an unstable “neither war nor peace” situation despite the halt in fighting, the Interior Ministry spokesperson said, urging executive bodies to take practical steps to stabilize conditions and improve people’s livelihoods and peace of mind.
Ali Zeinivand urged people not to pay attention to rumors or unverified reports, adding: “We are waiting for the war to end so we can announce the election calendar.”
He said Iran’s armed forces remained at full readiness, adding that their level of preparedness had risen sharply since the start of the war in February and was now “at the highest level.”
The spokesperson also said the government was working to secure basic goods despite obstacles at southern borders, using eastern, western and northern crossings instead.
He said provincial governors had been given “important and unprecedented” authority to help supply essential goods and raw materials for workshops and industries through cooperation with neighboring provinces and countries.
“Our country cannot be blockaded,” he said, adding that authorities had no concerns about supplying basic goods after granting greater powers to governors.
Iraq exported 10 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in April, Oil Minister Basim Mohammed said.
The figure points to continued oil flows through the strategic waterway despite the war-linked disruption and maritime tensions around one of the world’s most important energy routes.
Mohammed said Iraq was seeking talks with OPEC to increase its production and export capacity, adding that Baghdad aimed to reach production capacity of 5 million barrels per day.