Pezeshkian Creates New Cyberspace Body as Iran’s 11-Week Internet Blackout Hits 90 Million
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · May 14
Pezeshkian Creates New Cyberspace Body as Iran’s 11-Week Internet Blackout Hits 90 Million
2 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · May 14
Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday set up a new cyberspace headquarters led by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref to review internet coverage and streamline policy across Iran’s overlapping communications bodies.
The move comes 11 weeks into what the report calls the world’s longest nationwide internet shutdown, imposed after the February 28 war with the United States and Israel and justified by Tehran as a security measure.
Iran is still expanding a tiered-access model rather than restoring open connectivity: the state-backed “Internet Pro” offers limited access to approved groups at several times normal prices, while most global services remain blocked.
Officials are split on the policy’s costs. The chief justice called Internet Pro a “sledgehammer” on public opinion, and the science minister warned prolonged disruption for the public would be “against national security.”
Experts say the new body is more likely to coordinate enforcement of existing restrictions than reverse them, deepening reliance on state-approved local apps that give authorities greater visibility into citizens’ communications.
Is Iran's crippling internet blackout a show of state power or a desperate gamble for regime survival?
Can new satellite tech break Iran's digital walls before its control model is exported globally?
Iran is creating a digital caste system. What happens to the millions left permanently disconnected from the world?
Iran’s 2026 Internet Blackout: Digital Caste System, Economic Collapse, and the Struggle for Online Freedom
Overview
In May 2026, Iran established the Specialised Headquarters for Organising and Guiding Iran’s Cyberspace, led by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, aiming to centralize internet governance and possibly reform the Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC). This move follows a history where the government learned the importance of internet control after citizens used online platforms during the 2009 Green Movement protests and the 2010 Stuxnet cyberattack disrupted Iran’s nuclear program. These events convinced authorities that managing the internet is essential for protecting state power and preventing large-scale dissent, shaping today’s strict digital policies.