Iran’s internet is back, until it isn’t

Iran’s internet access has partially returned after nearly 90 days, the longest blackout in the country’s history. Yet authorities continue to throttle the available bandwidth, with Iranians reporting they are unable to upload or download videos and other content. Even this fragile connectivity could be cut at a moment’s notice, and people wonder when the next blackout will begin.

Washington’s response to the Islamic Republic’s digital repression is a game of cat and mouse, as efforts to restore connectivity are repeatedly overtaken by new restrictions. Without a durable solution, Tehran will continue to impose prolonged shutdowns while relying on technological support from Beijing to sustain its censorship apparatus. The answer lies in establishing an interagency task force that expands satellite internet and counter-jamming capabilities while sanctioning those responsible for Iran’s internet control infrastructure.

Internet connectivity matters on three fronts. First, Iranians can receive information from foreign leaders, opposition figures, or independent media, rather than relying on regime propaganda. Second, it allows the world to hear directly from the people as they document abuses and daily life. Third, it enables Iranians to coordinate collective action during protests.

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Tehran claims internet blackouts are necessary to prevent cyberattacks and assassinations, yet even a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace recently acknowledged that neither threat was prevented, with both peaking during Iran’s recent crackdown on demonstrators of dissent. Long before the current conflict, the regime routinely imposed nationwide blackouts during major protests and throttled internet access in cities experiencing unrest.

Security concerns aside, these restrictions have also become a lucrative enterprise. Authorities have created a tiered system of internet access in which regime-connected individuals enjoy privileged “white internet” access, and wealthier users can purchase enhanced connectivity through services such as “Internet Pro.” A parallel black market for Virtual Private Networks and other circumvention tools, linked to regime-connected kleptocrats, allows insiders to profit from the very restrictions they impose while expanding their ability to monitor online activity.

That said, prolonged internet blackouts are less than ideal for Tehran’s tyrants. Each day of internet shutdown costs Iran’s economy approximately $37.35 million in direct losses, bringing the total cost of the nearly 90-day blackout to around $3.3 billion.

Beijing has supplied the Islamic Republic with surveillance technologies used to track dissidents, and Chinese firms such as Tiandy have been blacklisted by the Commerce Department for enabling the regime’s repression. Tehran is now using these systems to lay the groundwork for a permanently throttled internet while granting only tightly monitored access to approved users. Chinese or Russian military-grade Starlink jammers further bolster Tehran’s repression apparatus.

Iran’s highly centralized internet architecture relies on the Telecommunication Infrastructure Company, which controls the country’s backbone network and international gateways, allowing authorities to throttle or disconnect internet access at will.

The U.S. response during the January 2026 Lion and Sun protests and the conflict combined providing circumvention tools and expanding Starlink access with strikes on infrastructure linked to the censorship apparatus. Accounts from inside Iran suggested some of these facilities were also struck during the recent war, while others reported the return of previously blocked television broadcasts.

For years, the primary solution was tools such as VPNs, but they have become ineffective during total blackouts. Satellite internet was initially seen as a breakthrough because it bypasses Iran’s centralized infrastructure, yet the regime jammed those signals, while smuggling receiver terminals into the country remains costly and risky for Iranians to possess.

Satellite internet’s Direct-to-Cell technology remains the best option, allowing ordinary smartphones to connect directly to low-Earth-orbit satellites without the need for dedicated terminals.

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The FREEDOM Act would assess DTC connectivity and counter-jamming technologies, and the IRAN Act expands internet access through satellites, digital eSIMs, which allow users to activate foreign mobile service remotely, and other tools. The Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act aims to establish a federal interagency working group to develop shutdown-resilient connectivity technologies while also increasing funding and oversight for these projects.

Finally, the architects of Iran’s digital repression cannot go unpunished. While the State Department has imposed visa restrictions on Iranian telecommunications officials for their role in suppressing Iranians, TIC and its CEO, Behzad Akbari, remain untouched by Treasury sanctions despite overseeing this repressive infrastructure.

Janatan Sayeh is the Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign influence. Born and raised in Tehran, he held various research roles at the International Republican Institute, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the American Enterprise Institute.