Politics Internet functional again in some parts of Iran
After a two-week internet lockdown in Iran, many users in the country are gradually able to communicate with the world online again. According to data from the IT company Cloudflare, nationwide data traffic when accessing websites has now returned to around 30 percent of the usual level before the blockade.
23.01.2026, 19:46
SDA
Using so-called tunnel services (VPN), some residents of the capital Tehran were also able to send WhatsApp messages again. Apps from the Facebook group are popular in Iran, but are generally blocked. However, Iranians who were able to go online again on Friday expressed concern that this was only a temporary relaxation.
"Since Friday morning, the wider availability of messaging apps has been confirmed and more VPN tunnels are being established from Iran," wrote the organization Netblocks, which specializes in internet blocking, on X. However, the network is heavily censored and observable international connectivity remains low.
The state had officially justified the block with security concerns. Ali Akbar Purjamshidian, chairman of a national security committee, defended the blockade on state television on Wednesday. "For the population, there is the issue of security and there is the issue of the economy," said the former general. "And in this situation, security was more important to us."
The President of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently warned of unforeseeable consequences for the economy. More than 400,000 companies are threatened in their existence, Gholamhossein Shafei told the online portal Asre-Eghtesad. If the internet lockdown continues, the livelihoods of around nine million employees will be at stake.
