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Millions of Iranians have been cut off from the outside world by a near-total internet shutdown in Tehran and other cities, in what officials said was a bid to curb cyber attacks after a week of military exchanges with Israel.
Iranian banks and television stations have been hacked since Israel began its attack on Iran last week. Tehran routinely blocks many websites based overseas, but a far broader range of sites, including domestic media, became inaccessible this week.
NetBlocks, which monitors internet access worldwide, said that “Iran imposed a nationwide internet shutdown” that has now lasted for more than two days. “The ongoing blackout . . . impacts the public’s ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital,” it said.
The outage came as Iranians faced widespread Israeli missile strikes for the first time, with residential buildings and offices among those hit, along with military sites. Large queues of people left the capital as the conflict escalated, though many others have opted to stay.
Farzan, 32, a Tehran resident, said: “I am cut off from the outside world . . . I have had no money for several days because my bank has been hacked, leaving me without a debit card.”
Iranians could still communicate via landlines and mobile phones. State television channels continued to broadcast, while opposition satellite TV stations were also accessible. But some in the Iranian diaspora struggled to contact loved ones amid the ongoing Israeli onslaught.
Yeganeh, a Tehran resident, received a frantic call from a friend in Toronto late on Wednesday, asking her to contact his parents in the city centre, where a huge Israeli strike had been reported.
“He was so worried. The net was down and his parents weren’t answering their phones all evening,” she said.
Some in Tehran were sympathetic to the restrictions after Israel’s onslaught exposed its widespread intelligence penetration of Iran, including through tech.
“I agree that it’s difficult to manage without the internet,” Bahman, 42, said. “But as long as the shutdown is meant to protect our security, we need to accept it. Israel is using the internet to infiltrate our systems, track individuals and identify locations as targets for drone strikes.”
Iran’s communications ministry said on Wednesday that the temporary limits on internet access were to prevent the enemy using the domestic communications network for “military purposes, posing risks to people’s lives and property”.
It said public services and news platforms would still be available. But many websites, including domestic media outlets, remained largely inaccessible. Iranians living abroad were told on Friday to use domestic messaging platforms including Bale, Rubika, Eitaa and Soroush to connect with families.
The authorities have historically imposed restrictions on internet usage, but Iranians have easily used virtual private networks to circumvent them. Those restrictions have in the past been tightened during periods of social unrest as authorities seek to control the narrative.
On Wednesday the state TV news channel was briefly hacked, with on-screen messages calling on people to take to the streets. It aired images from protests that broke out in 2021 after the death in custody of a woman detained by the country’s notorious morality police.
Moments later, the network informed viewers that the “irrelevant message” on their TV screens was due to an Israeli cyber attack.
Another online assault caused disruptions to services of two big banks, Sepah and Pasargad, on Tuesday. Iran’s cyber security command said on Wednesday it had repelled a major hacking attack on the banking network.
It also called on users to exercise caution while using foreign platforms and software, warning Israel could spy on citizens through data collection such as location, audio and video. Iran’s cyber police, Fata, asked citizens not to open “suspicious or malicious links” sent via text message or messaging apps.
On Tuesday, Nobitex, one of Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said it had been hacked and had had halted all customer access. On Thursday it said the attack had been larger than initially thought, and full recovery would take about five days as internet problems were slowing the effort.
The internet restrictions came just a day after the cyber police told the public that online disruptions had been the result of cyber attacks and there were no plans to limit access.