Several viewers said joy was impossible after what the country had endured.
“I am not happy that the internet has been restored, because 40,000 other people will never come online again,” one viewer wrote, referring to the victims of Iran's crackdown on thousands of protesters in January.
Another viewer said the restoration should not erase the memory of those killed.
“We were finally able to connect to the internet after some time, thank God,” the viewer wrote. “In memory of the fallen, whose names live on.”
A third message struck a similar tone: “Now that the internet is back, let’s remember our fallen even more. Hoping for freedom.”
For many, the return of access was framed as a right that should never have been taken away.
“Hello, we're finally connected, but it was not fair to be cut off for 88 days,” one person said.
Another viewer from Mahallat in central Iran wrote: “After 90 days, from Mahallat, we are supposed to get excited about the restoration of something that is every human being’s right.”
A viewer wrote: “Today, after three months, I connected. My dear people, please don’t lose hope. This is not the final battle.”
No favor
Others welcomed the reconnection but rejected any portrayal of it as a government favor.
“People of Iran, the internet is our natural right,” one viewer wrote. “Be happy, but don’t think this is a privilege they have given us. We will not surrender.”
Another message said: “I am pleased that international internet has been restored for the public. This is every citizen’s natural and basic right. Very good and bright things await the Persians and this land. Wait a little. Javid Shah, Payandeh Iran.”
Some viewers said the authorities had failed to use internet access as leverage.
“After several days, they opened the internet again,” one person wrote. “They thought they could fool us with the internet.”
Another message said the connection had returned only partially: “The internet has finally been restored, of course with a thousand hardships and low speed.”
A young viewer described exhaustion with daily life in Iran.
“I was only just able to connect,” the viewer wrote. “I am a girl from the 2010s generation. Even I am tired now. Every day the situation is getting worse and worse. I just hope that in the end all of us will see our Iran free. Long Live the Shah.”
Internet Pro
Several messages focused on the so-called “Internet Pro” plan, a tiered internet access system rolled out during the blackout, praising those who refused to use it despite being able to.
“From Bojnourd: I wanted to send my greetings to everyone who had the option of using Internet Pro but honorably chose not to,” one viewer wrote. “Freedom is your right more than anyone’s.”
“The Internet Pro plan failed. Thanks to those who did not submit to this humiliation and shame, and I feel sorry for those who did," a user wrote.
Another viewer linked the restoration to wider economic pain, using sarcasm to address officials.
“Bless your hand for ordering the international internet to be restored,” the viewer wrote. “Now, if it is not too much trouble, order those whose online businesses were destroyed to return to work, those whose lives fell apart to return to their homes and families, and those who were thrown onto the streets because of rent to go back to their homes.”
Others were skeptical of the motives behind the restoration.
“Don’t be too happy about the internet being restored,” one person wrote. “They restored the internet so they can activate their mining farms, and that means seven or eight hours of power cuts a day.”
For some, the strongest feeling was not relief but a sense of permanent rupture.
“After more than 80 days, we connected with difficulty,” one viewer wrote. “Once again, as always, we realized that no one is thinking about us, and in the end it is just us and ourselves. Even if everything goes back to the way it was, we will not go back.”
