Internet access across Iran has dropped to about 1 percent of normal levels, leaving millions of residents struggling to communicate or access independent information, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
Gatekeepers News reports that authorities reportedly shut down internet connectivity on Saturday after Israel and the United States launched air strikes, triggering a nationwide information blackout.
“Iran’s internet blackout has now exceeded 120 hours with connectivity still flatlining around 1 percent of ordinary levels,” NetBlocks said in a message posted on X (Twitter) on Thursday.
The restrictions have left many Iranians unable to contact relatives abroad or access global news sources.
While some residents are able to briefly connect at certain times of the day to send messages, others have turned to illegal subscriptions to Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk.
Phone calls from overseas to mobile phones or landlines in the country have also become nearly impossible.
“The internet speed is very slow,” a resident of Tehran told Agence France-Presse (AFP), requesting anonymity for security reasons.
“You can’t call, and voice messages don’t get delivered. We can just text,” the resident said.
NetBlocks also reported that Iranian telecommunications providers had begun sending warnings to users attempting to connect to the global internet, threatening legal action.
Iran has previously imposed internet shutdowns during periods of unrest, including nationwide protests in January and during a 12-day conflict with Israel last June.
“The internet situation here is abysmal,” a resident in Bukan in western Iran told AFP.
“It connects and disconnects. The connection is slow, so the VPNs don’t work.”
Under normal circumstances, many Iranians rely on virtual private networks (VPNs) to access Western social media platforms such as Instagram, which is banned in the country.
Despite the restrictions, some people with intermittent internet access are helping others stay connected.
Shima, a 33-year-old resident of Tehran, said she had been relaying updates about conditions in the capital, which has faced waves of missile and bombing attacks since Saturday.
“I need to call a lot of people, even strangers, on behalf of their families,” she said.
Meanwhile, travellers fleeing the country through border crossings said they had to journey without internet access or navigation tools such as Google Maps.
