According to analyses from several independent organizations monitoring internet infrastructure, Iran has been in a state of near-complete disconnection from the global network since around 8:00 p.m. local time in Tehran (11:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time). “I think we are now dealing with an almost total cutoff from the outside world,” said Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity researcher working with the nonprofit Miaan Group.
A similar assessment was provided by Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik, who confirmed that Iran has remained in a “near-total blackout” since that time. Kentik’s data show a sudden, almost vertical drop in internet traffic across the country.
The abrupt collapse in connectivity has also been confirmed by other sources. Traffic declines were recorded by NetBlocks, Cloudflare, and the research project IODA. “We are still seeing a small amount of traffic, but the country is effectively almost completely offline,” said David Belson, head of Cloudflare’s Data Insight team.
The blackout occurred amid escalating social protests that erupted in late December in many Iranian cities following a sharp devaluation of the national currency, shortages of basic goods, and steep price increases. According to media reports, parts of Tehran’s traditional bazaar have remained closed for more than 11 days. Authorities have responded to the demonstrations with harsh measures by security forces.
Experts have little doubt about the source of the shutdown. Rashidi points to the Iranian government — which has long maintained tight control over the country’s internet — as being behind the decision to cut connectivity. Attempts to obtain comment from Iranian officials in the United States were unsuccessful, and the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website was inaccessible at the time of publication.
Mass internet shutdowns in Iran are not a new phenomenon, but the current blackout is among the most severe in years. For millions of Iranians, it means losing access not only to social media, but also to communication tools, information, and online services — at a moment when social tensions have reached a critical level.
