The Islamic Republic lives under an Internet outage for most of this year. All this time, the country has been operating a “national Internet”, which is supposed to provide access to local sites, but it does so with difficulty. The majority of the population cannot use foreign services even with the help of a VPN, but the Internet works perfectly for officials and elites – using so-called “white SIM cards”. For Medusa in particular, orientalist Nikita Smagin talks about how a new kind of inequality is emerging in Iran and whether we can expect a return to the pre-war Internet in Iran.
What is happening to the Internet in Iran now?
Iran was unable to access the global network for 66 days. If we add to this about an additional two weeks in January 2026, when the Internet was shut down due to widespread protests, it turns out that the country’s population was in Internet blackout mode bSMost of this year. However, the transition to a new form is accompanied by a number of difficulties.
First and foremost, the problem remains the performance of the economy. Thus, the Iranian Chamber of Commerce Evaluated The direct financial losses resulting from the Internet shutdown amount to between 30 and 40 million dollars per day, and taking into account indirect losses – 80 million dollars per day. Thus, a 60-day global grid outage could cause $4.8 billion in damage, roughly 1% of the country’s GDP. At the same time, the Iranian authorities’ assessments may not reflect the whole picture. For example, in 2019, due to protests, the Internet was cut off for only 10 days, and then… appreciation Damage amounted to nearly three billion dollars.
The problems are not limited to financial losses. So, on Nine million people in Iran make their living directly or indirectly through Instagram. We are talking about a huge number of jobs: from small traders to employees of large organizations who place ads on the social network. If we talk about small online commerce, then according to Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Sattar Hashemi said that the “sustainability” of these companies reaches an average of 20 days. That is, if there is no Internet for more than this period, the mass bankruptcy of small businesses becomes inevitable. That period is long over, which means the lockdown also threatens unemployment not seen in decades.
In addition to the economic aspect, there are also technical difficulties. The country is isolated from the external Internet, but now the so-called “national Internet” operates in Iran, which is similar to the Russian “white lists.” That is, instead of a global network, the country has an expansive domestic network with a range of Iranian services, such as banking apps, taxi ordering and delivery, as well as local messaging services Bale and Ita. All this, according to the plan, should ensure the functioning of the basic economic infrastructure, in a situation where the global Internet cannot be accessed even through a VPN.
However, Iran’s “national Internet” faces the same technical problems as Russia’s whitelists. Existing infrastructure cannot handle high loads and begins to collapse when demand increases. Researchers who monitor the state of the Internet Noteit is difficult to download Iranian navigators and determine the location, and Bell and ETA are forced to impose restrictions.
For example, in mid-March Eta Messenger AnnounceUsers will no longer be able to send files larger than 50MB. In this case, old files larger than this size will be deleted. And at the beginning of April, the service itself stopped accepting new users: when trying to register, the application Issued message: “Sorry, the activation code cannot currently be sent to new users.”
Access to other internal services is also regularly interrupted. In other words, the national Internet operates with serious outages and is unable to provide Iranians with even basic functions.
How do Iranians still connect to the Internet?
Current difficulties force the Iranian authorities to continue experiments with the Internet system. One of the innovations is the so-called “white SIM cards” that provide access to the Internet without any restrictions. They were created specifically for state media workers and certain categories of officials and military personnel who need the Internet “as part of their duties.”
Thus, all major Iranian media outlets, such as Fars Agency, Tasnim, or the Iranian State Broadcasting Corporation, did not stop publishing regular updates during the January protests and the current war. Including Telegram, which has been blocked in Iran for many years. When Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared on the American CBS channel he askedAs for why he communicates via Zoom while his citizens are denied access to the Internet, he replied: “Because I am the voice of all Iranians. I defend their rights.”
But the system for providing Internet for the regime’s needs has been affected by corruption. “There are reports of this [такие сим-карты] It is provided to persons who are not entitled to it due to the nature of their professional activity, and [предоставившие этот доступ] I received millions of tomans for this. He said At the end of April, the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohsen Ezhi, ordered investigations into the violations.
The situation indicates this: in a country suffering from a high level of corruption (Iran takes 153rd in the world out of 182 in terms of corruption, and since 2017 the situation has been steadily worsening) It is unlikely – under the conditions of a total ban – that this will affect the Internet. This means that people now have additional opportunities to circumvent prohibitions.
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Another innovation is the so-called “Internet Pro” – a new system that the country’s authorities are just beginning to implement. The idea is to provide the necessary communication channels for at least part of the business, as well as universities and research centers.
according to Announce Procedure: Registered companies and commercial institutions can apply through a special committee formed by the country’s Supreme National Security Council. The application should indicate not only the company, but also the number of people who need the Internet with their names and personal information. If the Iranian authorities deem the reasons sufficient, the organization will obtain SIM cards equipped with special “Internet Pro” for a specific number of users. At the same time, nothing is known about such systems for wired Internet – and it seems that they do not exist.
In addition, a small portion of Iranian society has access to the Internet without any government interference. We’re talking about Starlink stations being smuggled into the country. Naturally, demand for them has increased exponentially in recent months. CountsThere are more than 50 thousand such stations in Iran, each of which can be used by one or more people. Using Starlink is illegal, and the authorities regularly do so They were arrested Those who bring them to Iran.
But it seems that arrests and threats do not stop this practice, turning its distribution into a profitable business. If there is one Starlink station in Iran in 2025 It was for sale For $700-800, then after the start of the closures this year its cost on the black market He grew up Up to four thousand dollars. For the majority of the country’s population, where average salaries range from $300 to $600 per month, this service remains not only dangerous, but also completely inaccessible.
Importantly, as a result, it is much cheaper for residents of border areas to travel abroad to access the Internet. In particular, the American publication NPR He writes About the phenomenon of “Internet tourism” on the Turkish border. “I just want to make a video call and come back [в Иран]. “That’s it,” says one of the heroines of this story. Although this phenomenon is unlikely to become truly widespread.
What do the authorities plan to do next?
Network limitations create a paradoxical reality. On the one hand, it is very difficult for ordinary citizens to access the Internet, but on the other hand, the lockdown still does not seem absolute. The internal “National Internet” operates with significant interruptions, state “white SIM cards” are sold for bribes, commercial structures can receive exceptions, and the illegal Starlink network operates throughout the country for the benefit of the wealthier classes. The new regime causes a lot of discontent and criticism that penetrates even the media allowed in the country.
Experts inside Iran are convinced that the set of exceptions within the Internet Pro system will not help sustain the Internet economy. Social networks and messaging are a full-fledged means of communication only if there are enough users, that is, “Internet Pro” will not save business on Instagram or Telegram. how Notes Maryam Najafi, Secretary of the Tehran E-Commerce Association, said: “If a company has access to high-quality Internet and its customers do not, it will practically not be able to work, because commerce is a two-way process.” In other words, the proposed tariff will, at best, help individual companies that rely on foreign partners or need foreign software.
Basically, we’re talking about actual Institutionalizing network inequalities. That is, certain categories of citizens have the right to access the Internet, while others are deprived of this opportunity. All this could be a serious blow to the class stratification, the mood of the country, and the number of immigrants.
It is no coincidence that voices opposing it can be felt even under the current conditions of Internet censorship. This is what the famous Iranian journalist present in the country, Yashar Soltani, said on April 20 books In X, “free internet is a public right, not a privilege that can be sold.” After 10 days, a group of students from Tehran Medical University published A statement condemning government measures to restrict the Internet.
However, it is unlikely that popular anger will stop the ruling regime. It is in a position of existential threat, and key decisions are now being made by the military or its affiliates. Therefore, achieving maximum safety becomes the main and undeniable goal. The Internet, according to this logic, carries a whole range of threats: the possibility of coordination of society against the authorities, disinformation, collection of data about the country by enemy forces, as well as recruitment of agents by foreign intelligence services.
Another question is that the “white SIM” and “Internet Pro” system may not be a last resort. It is clear that the new system only partially serves the goals of the Iranian authorities, and they are trying to quickly adapt and improve it. So there may be further easing or soft exceptions to lockdowns in the future.
However, the authorities are not yet planning to return to the previous pre-war Internet.
Nikita Smagin