The dispute centers on a “special headquarters” set up earlier this month under First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref to determine how and when broader access to the global internet should resume after wartime restrictions imposed during the recent conflict between Iran and Israel.
Hardliners have portrayed the body as a parallel institution created to sideline opponents inside the Supreme National Security Council and the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, two of Iran’s most influential policymaking bodies on security and internet governance.
Hardliners go to court
The backlash intensified after the headquarters voted on Monday to move forward with restoring international internet access.
In response, four hardline members of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace filed a complaint with Iran’s Administrative Justice Court, seeking to halt implementation of the decision and dissolve the newly formed body.
The court quickly ordered the suspension of the headquarters’ decisions pending a final review. But the government later moved ahead with reconnection, and within hours home internet services began returning in parts of the country, followed later by access through some mobile operators.
The legal complaint drew particular attention because of the people involved. Iranian media identified the four plaintiffs as figures affiliated with the ultra-conservative Paydari, or Steadfastness, camp who also serve on the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
Reports also suggested that the complaint was encouraged by Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, who was appointed during the administration of former president Ebrahim Raisi. Reformist allies of Pezeshkian have repeatedly called for Aghamiri’s removal, but he has remained in office.
According to reports from inside the meeting chaired by Aref, nine members voted in favor of restoring broader internet access, while three opposed it. Those reportedly opposed included Aghamiri and Peyman Jebelli, head of Iran’s state broadcaster.
Both men have consistently opposed access to the global internet and have publicly supported a “Chinese-style” internet governance model, centered on a heavily controlled domestic network often described by critics as the “Iranian internet.”
Attacks on government
Hardline criticism has focused less on the technical restoration itself than on who had the authority to make the decision.
Hamshahri, a newspaper run by Tehran Municipality and heavily influenced by hardline factions, argued that restrictions should remain because cyberspace had become one of the main fronts of war.
“Is it really still unclear that today’s war is no longer fought only on land, in the air and at sea, and that cyberspace has become one of the principal battlefields?” the newspaper wrote.
The IRGC-linked Fars News Agency wrote that critics of the government were concerned that “legal mechanisms in the country’s macro-decisions” could gradually be weakened if the authority of other institutions were compromised.
Hamid Rasaee, a hardline member of parliament, wrote on X that the committee formed by Aref had submitted its resolution to the president for approval, “but Pezeshkian himself knows that although he is the head of the Supreme National Security Council, he has no authority to violate its resolutions."
Hamed Nikoonahad, a law professor at Shahid Beheshti University, also told state television that without a resolution from the Supreme National Security Council, the internet should not return to its previous state unless a higher authority, meaning the Supreme Leader, orders it.
Raja News, which reflects the views of Saeed Jalili and the Paydari Front, criticized the silence of other conservatives who support Pezeshkian’s administration. In a note titled “The government’s fabricated headquarters bypassed the Supreme National Security Council resolution,” it demanded that they take a clear position.
Partial and fragile access
The restoration remains limited.
The partial return is far from a full reopening. Internet monitor NetBlocks said access remains heavily filtered, with new restrictions on messaging platforms and app stores, while unstable connections continue to leave many users dependent on VPNs.
According to NetBlocks, access has recovered to slightly more than 60 percent of normal levels.
Neda, an interior designer in Tehran, told Iran International that past experience had made her skeptical of the sudden change. She recalled how internet access improved briefly after the January unrest, only to be restricted again when the war began.
She said nearly three months of total disconnection had changed public expectations.
“As the saying goes, they made us look at death so we would settle for a fever,” she said.
