Iran maintains internet shutdown as blackout devastates businesses
Updated
Updated · Sentinel Colorado · May 5
Iran maintains internet shutdown as blackout devastates businesses
11 articles · Updated · Sentinel Colorado · May 5
The four-month nationwide cutoff affecting 90 million people is estimated to cost $30-40 million a day, while Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi says 10 million jobs depend on connectivity.
The blackout, tightened on 28 February after war began with the US and Israel, has crushed sales, remote work and advertising, with DigiKala laying off 200 staff.
Authorities have offered limited access to selected professions, while expensive black-market VPNs, banned Starlink and a monitored national intranet leave many businesses shuttered and more Iranians turning to street vending or emigration.
Can U.S.-backed satellite internet pierce Iran's digital iron curtain and break the information blockade?
How is Iran's 'digital apartheid' creating a new class of internet refugees and reshaping society?
Is Iran's internet blackout the new playbook for authoritarian regimes to control a digital society?
Iran’s 65-Day Nationwide Internet Blackout in Wartime: Economic Collapse and Social Crisis
Overview
Since February 28, 2026, following devastating U.S. and Israeli military strikes, Iran has endured a nationwide internet blackout lasting over 65 days. The government confines citizens to a restricted domestic network while elites access the global internet, creating a stark digital divide and fueling a costly black market for connectivity. This shutdown has crippled Iran's digital economy, causing widespread job losses and business closures, while disrupting education, healthcare, and daily life. The blackout also enables intensified government repression and violent crackdowns, sparking public anger and psychological distress. International condemnation calls the blackout a disproportionate human rights violation, with bleak prospects for economic recovery without restored internet access and sanctions relief.