Protests rage across Iran as authorities maintain nationwide internet blackout

The Iranian authorities in cyberspace declared on Monday that the access to the global internet will not be restored in full till the government is assured that the security situation is fully under control.

Protests driven by inflation and public anger

Those protests, which have been going on for some time now, are the result of the high inflation, poor economy and above all, people's discontent with the current administration, ANI citing a foreign media.

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As per the report, Iran's National Center for Cyberspace president Mohammad Amin Aqamiri indicated that the internet suspension that began on January 9 in response to the unrest in several areas will remain in effect for now.

Authorities yet to announce restoration timeline

He further mentioned that the timing for the end of the restrictions will be made public only after the authorities have finished their security evaluations.

"The time frame for returning to normal conditions will be set later, and the authorities will have to inform us about the security matters," Aqamiri said, according to the citing.

Aqamiri termed the shutdown as the only option to fight the "cognitive warfare" which Iran's enemies are waging against it in cyberspace.

He also mentioned that the National Information Network (NIN) which connects all the computer networks in the country has been made more robust so that online services can still be delivered during the period of limited access to the world wide web.

National Information Network expanded to maintain services

The NIN is a platform through which we can guarantee stable services for the public, commented Aqamiri while further saying that local apps, search engines, and AI services would be proliferated to cut down disturbance to life.

He went on to assure that the citizens are already getting banking and shopping services on the internet through NIN.

As per NetBlocks, a watchdog organization that is based on monitoring cybersecurity and Internet governance, 108 hours have passed since the Iran government implemented a nationwide internet blackout.

The organization said in a post on X, "Update: It has been 108 hours since #Iran introduced a nationwide internet shutdown, leaving Iranians isolated from the rest of the world and each other."

On the one hand, Iran's Telecom Minister Sattar Hashemi stated that all the government sectors would obey the order of the highest security personnel to keep the internet mired in the present situation while proceeding with the plan of full access ultimately, according to a citing.

Over 600 killed as protests spread nationwide

The number of people directly associated with the demonstrations and who have died so far is given as 646 by the latest authenticated figures released by the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA).

Among the killed are 505 demonstrations, including nine children, plus 133 military and security force persons of Iran, one judge, and seven non-demonstrating civilians.

Nowadays, the protests, already lasting for 16 days, have spread across the country with 606 protests taking place in 187 different cities, as per HRANA.