In short
- Internet traffic monitors say internet traffic in Iran fell to almost zero on Thursday evening and remains offline.
- The closure followed days of protests driven by economic grievances and calls for regime change.
- It is unclear whether satellites that provide internet services such as Starlink are accessible.
Iran’s internet traffic fell on Thursday as authorities imposed a nationwide shutdown amid escalating protests calling for regime change, according to data from Cloudflare and independent monitoring groups.
“Current internet usage in the region is effectively non-existent,” said David Belson, head of data insights at Cloudflare. Declutter. Internet traffic in Iran “fell to almost zero at 6:45 PM UTC (10:15 PM local time) and remains at that level,” he added.
The near-total blackout came as protests spread across Tehran and several major cities, with demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Islamist government and clashing with security forces. Iranian authorities warned of a harsh response and blamed foreign actors for the unrest.
The current wave of protests began in late December, driven by high inflation, a collapsing currency and rising costs of living.
Demonstrations have intensified this week after calls for mass protests circulated online, including calls from exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavifor.
As the crowds grew, authorities moved to restrict internet access, a move officials have described as a security measure to prevent unrest and limit coordination.
Internet monitoring groups including NetBlocks also reported a sharp collapse in connectivity, describing the outage as a nationwide blackout that left the country almost completely offline.
“Live network data shows that #Tehran and other parts of Iran are now entering a digital blackout as internet connectivity relies on multiple providers,” NetBlocks wrote on Mastodon. “The new incident follows regional shutdowns and is likely to severely limit coverage of events on the ground as protests spread.”
Iran has repeatedly used internet shutdowns during periods of unrest to disrupt protest coordination and limit the flow of information to the outside world.
Whether alternative connectivity services like Starlink were accessible during the blackout – as some social media users claim – remains unclear, and neither SpaceX nor its CEO, Elon Musk, has confirmed that the Starlink service was possible in Iran.
During a Due to the nationwide internet shutdown in Iran in June 2025, Musk publicly confirmed that Starlink had been activated, writing: “the beams are on,‘ after authorities cut off access to an estimated 90 million people.
Musk has also previously deployed Starlink in conflict zones, including over Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022, and again in Gaza in 2024 to support medical personnel during Israel’s war with Hamas.
Independent data continues to show that Iran remains almost completely disconnected from the global internet.
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