Iran at 50 Days of Internet Blackout, Connectivity at 2%

Iran has entered the 50th day of a near-total internet blackout, with national connectivity at about 2% of normal levels and estimated economic losses of $1.8 billion. Most residents are confined to the state-run National Information Network and rely on expensive workarounds to reach the global internet.

The digital shutdown began hours after coordinated strikes by a U.S.-Israel coalition and has continued for more than 1,176 hours. The blackout reduced international traffic to a fraction of usual volumes while a small number of government-approved accounts retain outside access.

An internet observatory tracking network conditions reports that most people can no longer reach the global internet and that overall traffic remains drastically reduced. Some users have reported intermittent access to parts of global services, but public access to international sites is largely blocked.

The shutdown has interrupted online commerce, services and communications. Authorities estimate nearly $1.8 billion in economic losses linked to the cut in connectivity. Residents, businesses and journalists have increasingly used private satellite terminals and virtual private networks to reach the broader internet; these options are expensive and carry legal risk. Black-market prices for satellite kits have exceeded $5,000, and some providers of unfiltered access have charged up to $16 per gigabyte.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi defended the restrictions as necessary for national security, describing the measure as intended to “protect the people.” Fazlollah Ranjbar, a member of parliament’s Social Commission, argued against restoring broad internet access while security concerns remain, saying “it may not be expedient for the internet to be accessible under such conditions, as it could potentially provide a platform for other issues to arise.”

Officials involved in recent negotiations that produced a ceasefire after the strikes did not secure an agreement to lift the digital restrictions. Technical indicators observed on the network — sustained low traffic and isolation of public routes from international connections — are consistent with an intentional, government-led cutoff rather than isolated outages.

Journalists, human rights groups and residents report limits on the ability to document events, access independent reporting and communicate with relatives abroad. The reliance on the National Information Network concentrates which services and information remain available inside the country. Authorities have warned that unauthorized satellite terminals and other bypass methods can be punished, a stance that has pushed some users to pay steep prices if they choose to risk external access.