Cairo — Iranians began regaining internet access on Wednesday after authorities ended Closed for months. But users said that the service was slow and intermittent in some areas, with severe restrictions imposed on applications such as YouTube and Instagram, as it was before the outage began during… Nationwide protests In January.
The authorities justified the power outage as a military necessity after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Its decision to lift some restrictions this week came at a time when it appears that negotiators are close to reaching the area. A more sustainable truce. But many Iranians fear access could be cut off again at any moment.
Internet tracking company Netblocks said Iran’s connectivity, which measures the ability of devices to connect to the Internet, was at about 86% of capacity before the outage. Internet analysis company Kentik said internet traffic, which measures the amount of data transferred and is a good example of usage, was about 40%.
Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity analyst, said there was still widespread unrest. “It is too early to say the lockdown is over,” he wrote on X.
Iran’s population was about 90 million Offline for most of 2026, One of the longest and most severe national lockdowns in the world. Young people working in online jobs have seen their incomes evaporate. Job losses and the closure of online businesses have added to the war High economic costs.
This cutoff has made it difficult for Iranian families to communicate during months of unrest and war. At some points, Telephone lines were also cutAlthough it was later restored.
A woman living in Tehran said she had not been able to talk to her children living abroad for several months. She did not believe that the authorities had restored access to service, saying that she assumed they would find some justification to prolong the outage.
A taxi driver said that service had returned, but it was weak. He hoped the situation would improve so he could use messaging apps with family and friends. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Prices rose during the lockdown, with Tehran residents sometimes paying around $7.50 per gigabyte. Prices have fallen back to about $2.25 for 30 GB, roughly the same level they were before the protests.
Until then, Iran had tightly controlled access to popular social media sites, leading many to rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs. The cost of these solutions has risen during the lockdown, making them unaffordable for many as the economy has taken a hit.
Companies are starting to resurface online, announcing their return with posts on sites like Instagram and Telegram.
A gamer and tech influencer in the central city of Isfahan said the lockdown caused him to lose much of his audience on YouTube and Instagram, where he spent years building a large following.
“All my views and interactions are disabled. I’ve been erased from the algorithm,” he said in a voice note sent by WhatsApp, adding that his internet connection was still slower than it was before the lockdown.
“The situation is such that many content producers have had their income reduced to zero, moved to other jobs, or had to sell their equipment to survive,” he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Iranian authorities first shut down internet service in January during mass anti-government protests that were eventually suppressed. In a violent crackdown. Thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands were arrested.
This blackout had only begun to decline when the government imposed a complete internet blackout after the start of the war, when the United States and Israel launched air strikes. The Supreme Leader of Iran was killed And other senior officials.
The government has faced criticism over the prolonged lockdown, which has caused further damage to an economy ravaged by inflation, walkouts in key industries and strikes. The American blockade on Iranian ports.
Afshin Kolahi, a member of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, told a local newspaper last month that the internet shutdown cost an estimated $30 million to $40 million per day, with potential indirect losses twice that amount. About 10 million people work in jobs that depend on Internet access, according to Communications Minister Sattar Al Hashemi.
Iranians are still able to access the national network, but the scope of access is much narrower, and users have complained of poor service and heavy censorship. Senior government officials are given SIM cards that give them access to the global Internet. Under pressure, the government expanded access to SIM cards for some professions during the lockdown.