Iran’s internet curbs choke AI startup opportunities

After two months offline, Morteza finally managed to reconnect for a few minutes and send a message to a group of old friends.

“Hi guys, do you know any VPN that actually works?” he wrote. “I’m locked out of my hearing-aid account. I can’t update it.”

The message captured something many Iranians have been trying to explain for months: the country’s internet crisis is no longer just about Instagram, Telegram or access to foreign news websites. The internet has become woven into nearly every aspect of daily life: from work and banking to transportation, education and healthcare.

Iran’s latest shutdown, which began on February 28 and continues in various forms, has become one of the longest nationwide internet disruptions in the world.

Even global tech companies have begun to feel its effects. Meta, the owner of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, recently reported that the average daily users of its apps fell from 3.58 billion to 3.56 billion in the first quarter of the year, partly because of internet disruptions in Iran.

The decline was small by Meta standards but striking nonetheless: Iran’s blackout had become large enough to leave visible marks on the usage charts of some of the world’s biggest technology platforms.

The whitelist

During wars, outages caused by attacks on infrastructure are not unusual. But in Iran’s case, the authorities themselves ordered and implemented the restrictions while simultaneously insisting that no real “internet shutdown” had occurred.

Officials instead describe the measures as restrictions on “foreign platforms” imposed because of wartime conditions.

Rasool Jalili, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace, argued that when foreign media speak about an internet shutdown, they really mean access to Instagram and Telegram. He went further, placing those platforms in the same category as American fighter jets and missiles.

The comparison reflects a broader shift in how parts of the Iranian establishment increasingly view the internet: not as infrastructure, but as a threat to governance and security.

The same argument is often echoed abroad by commentators close to the government. Mohammad Marandi, for example, argued in response to an Al Jazeera report that because some domestic applications and services remained functional, describing the situation as an “internet blackout” was misleading.

Technically, internet filtering usually means blocking specific websites or services from a global network—a system based on blacklists.

But what Iran is now moving toward goes further than blocking Instagram, X or Telegram. Increasingly, access itself is being reorganized around approved users and approved services through a system marketed as “Internet Pro.”

Internet as privilege

The idea emerged publicly after the ceasefire alongside official talk of domestic governance of foreign platforms. 

The government presented the plan—reportedly approved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council—as a temporary measure designed to reduce pressure on businesses during wartime.

In practice, it creates different layers of internet access based on profession, identity and official approval.

A doctor’s package may allow access to YouTube while keeping Instagram blocked. A businessman’s package may permit Instagram but not other services. The result is a more formalized version of what critics inside Iran have long described as “class-based internet.”

The prolonged restrictions have inflicted severe damage on businesses already weakened by inflation and war. But they have also created new economic opportunities.

Pursuit of workarounds

VPNs sold in Iran vary widely. Some are commercial products, others are homemade “configurations” that function only through specific servers and routes, while some reportedly rely indirectly on systems such as Starlink.

For users, however, they all mean the same thing: paying increasingly large sums for fragments of connection to the outside world.

Reports suggest VPN prices have multiplied several times since the beginning of the war, though free anti-censorship tools developed by independent developers occasionally disrupt the market and drive prices down.

But here is the contradiction: if unrestricted internet access is truly considered a security threat, why does that same access become available to approved groups through money, permits or connections?

Independent investigative journalist Yashar Soltani has argued that the “Internet Pro” system is tied partly to the financial interests of major telecom operators and networks linked to powerful state institutions.

Whether or not all aspects of those claims withstand scrutiny, one reality is already visible inside Iran: alongside the shutdown itself, a market has emerged for selling different levels of digital access.

The result is a growing divide between those who remain connected and those effectively cut off from the outside world.

At the same time as restricting access to the global internet, the Islamic Republic has increasingly redefined connectivity not as a public right but as a controlled privilege—one that can be priced, restricted and distributed according to political and economic priorities.

In Iran today, internet access is becoming not just a tool of communication, but a commodity and an instrument of control.

According to the source, the release of these specific funds in Qatar is a strict precondition for the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stage.

Tehran has insisted that actual, guaranteed access to this $12 billion must be granted during this first phase before any preliminary diplomatic understanding can move forward, the source said.

The source emphasized that this $12 billion represents only the immediate tranche required to initiate the diplomatic roadmap, and is not the only capital Iran is claiming.

Tehran's broader negotiating position is that all of its frozen assets globally must be unfrozen and fully released as part of any eventual comprehensive agreement, according to the source.

Earlier in the day, IRGC-linked Tasnim News reported that differences between Iran and the United States over one or two clauses of a possible memorandum of understanding remained unresolved.

Tasnim also reported on Sunday that Iran has insisted any initial memorandum of understanding with the United States should include the release of at least part of its frozen assets in the first step.

The report said Tehran had stressed that the released funds must be accessible to Iran.

It added that Washington had sought in recent weeks to link the release of the assets to a possible final nuclear agreement.

Iran wants part of the funds released at the start of any MOU and a mechanism set for releasing the rest during negotiations, according to the report.

Later in the day, Tasnim said US obstruction of some clauses in a potential agreement with Iran, including the release of Tehran’s blocked assets, was still continuing.

Accordingly, there is still a possibility that the agreement could be canceled, Tasnim's report added.

In April, Reuters reported that Washington had agreed to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar and other banks.
The funds, linked to Iranian oil sales to South Korea, were moved to Qatari accounts under a 2023 prisoner swap but remained restricted to humanitarian use under US oversight, according to the report.

As speculation over renewed diplomacy between Tehran and Washington intensifies, several citizens described the prospect of a deal not as a path toward stability but as another political arrangement reached at the expense of ordinary Iranians.

“We no longer have hope in Trump… we will finish the job ourselves,” one citizen wrote. Another added: “Trump’s decisions should not matter to us. We ourselves must bring down the Islamic Republic from inside the country.”

The messages come amid continued economic pressure inside Iran, where inflation, unemployment and political repression remain key public grievances.

US President Donald Trump said an agreement involving the United States, Iran and several other countries had been “largely negotiated” and was awaiting finalization.

Opposition to ceasefire, negotiations

Some viewers voiced direct opposition to any temporary ceasefire or agreement involving the Islamic Republic.

“We the people of Iran do not want a 60-day ceasefire or agreement,” one citizen wrote. Another described life in Iran as “impossible” and said they were waiting for “another call from the prince,” referring to exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi.

Several messages also urged US President Donald Trump not to strike a deal with Tehran, arguing that the Islamic Republic has systematically deprived citizens of the ability to organize or protest freely over the past decades.

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The comments reflected broader skepticism that outside governments would prioritize the demands of Iranian citizens over regional security concerns or diplomatic interests.

Economic pressure and public exhaustion

Economic hardship emerged as another dominant theme in the messages.

“We are being crushed under inflation,” one citizen wrote, warning that any agreement with the Islamic Republic would amount to “the biggest betrayal” of Iranians.

Others described mounting psychological exhaustion after years of overlapping crises, including economic decline, executions, political crackdowns and regional conflict.

“Every day we struggle with the stress of execution news, depression, poverty and countless other hardships,” one viewer wrote. Another added: “The news about a deal shows that we the people have become victims of politics.”

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said Kian was convicted of “intelligence activity for Israel and the United States” and sending information related to Iran’s defense industries,

Kian, Mizan said, was accused of transmitting coordinates and information about defense industry units to “networks affiliated with Israel and the United States” during attacks by the two countries against the Islamic Republic. The judiciary said a court sentenced him to death and confiscation of property.

Mizan said fewer than 50 days passed between Kian’s arrest and execution on May 24, describing the case as part of orders for “decisive and swift” handling of files linked to alleged cooperation with Israel and the United States.

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  Amnesty says Iran drove global surge in executions in 2025

The execution marks a sharp increase in the pace of political and security-related executions in Iran over recent weeks.

The HRANA human rights news agency previously reported that the Islamic Republic executed at least 52 prisoners on political and security-related charges between March 2025 and 2026.

Based on those figures, the rate of such executions has risen from roughly one per week earlier in the year to about one every two days over the past two months.

Concerns over accelerated prosecutions

The speed of Kian’s arrest, prosecution and execution has deepened concerns over due process in political and security-related cases in Iran.

Cases involving espionage and national security accusations in the Islamic Republic have long drawn scrutiny from rights groups and lawyers over allegations of forced confessions, torture, restricted access to independent lawyers and denial of fair trial guarantees.

Iran’s judiciary did not disclose the exact date of Kian’s arrest, details of court proceedings, whether he or his family had access to a lawyer of their choosing or how the Supreme Court reviewed the case.

Thousands detained after attacks

Iranian security forces have detained thousands of people across the country on political and security accusations since attacks by the United States and Israel began on February 28.

Police chief Ahmadreza Radan said on May 17 that security forces had arrested 6,500 people since the start of the conflict.

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  Abroad they talk, at home they hang

Radan described the detainees as “traitors and spies,” accusations that lawyers and human rights organizations say Iranian authorities frequently use against opponents and protesters.

Human rights groups have warned that mass arrests combined with accelerated judicial proceedings in security cases could place more detainees at risk of execution.

Traders and consumers say prices for phones, laptops and computer components now shift daily as importers grapple with currency pressures, supply uncertainty and disruptions to long-established trade routes through the United Arab Emirates, according to Eghtesad News.

“Today’s price is only valid for today,” has become a common refrain among sellers in Iran’s technology markets, reflecting uncertainty over replacement costs and future supplies, the report added.

The disruption has hit not only premium electronics but also basic hardware including SSD drives, graphics cards, motherboards, monitors and repair parts, according to market participants and customs data cited in the report.

UAE route emerges as key vulnerability

Iran’s technology market has long depended heavily on Dubai as a regional import and logistics hub for electronics. Customs figures cited in Iranian trade reports show roughly 600,000 laptops worth around $260 million entered Iran in 2023, with the overwhelming majority routed through the UAE.

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Broader trade data also point to the scale of dependence. Iranian customs statistics showed exports from the UAE to Iran reached around $19.1 billion between March 2024 and January 2025.

Importers say alternative routes through China, Turkey, Oman and Qatar remain slower, more expensive or less flexible than the Dubai-based networks that previously dominated the market.

Mobile phones and laptops move out of reach

Iran’s mobile phone imports dropped sharply in 2025, according to customs figures cited in the report. Commercial imports fell to about 8.4 million devices worth roughly $1.6 billion, down from 11.4 million phones valued at nearly $2.5 billion a year earlier.

The loss of the national currency’s value against the dollar, along with rising import costs, has also fed directly into retail prices. Some high-end Apple models now sell for several billion rials, with certain iPhone 16 Pro Max listings approaching 5 billion rials ($2800) in some stores.

Laptop prices have also surged. Entry-level student laptops now commonly exceed 400 million rials ($225), while mid-range work models often sell for between 800 million and one billion rials ($450-550).

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  Inflation pushes Iranians to buy food in installments

For many households and small businesses, the shift has changed buying behavior. Consumers increasingly delay purchases, turn to second-hand devices or opt to repair aging hardware instead of replacing it, added the report.

The pressure extends beyond consumers. Software firms, engineering offices, freelancers and online businesses now face sharply higher costs for maintaining basic digital infrastructure, adding strain to sectors already coping with weak purchasing power and economic uncertainty.