Latest news with #internetblackout
UAE Moments
26-06-2025
- Business
- UAE Moments
Iran Restores Internet After Two-Week Blackout
Iran has started restoring internet access after a near-total blackout that lasted almost two weeks. The restrictions, enforced in the middle of its conflict with Israel, cut off communication for millions and disrupted essential services across the country. Blackout began amid strikes with Israel The blackout was first announced on June 13 by Iranian telecom officials, citing national security concerns. Authorities said the shutdown aimed to prevent alleged cyber misuse by Israel and stop what they called a spread of disinformation. Following the announcement, internet traffic in the country dropped by nearly half and became nearly nonexistent over the next few days, according to global digital watchdog NetBlocks. Public services and daily life affected While internet restrictions aren't new in Iran, this recent disruption hit harder. Access to mobile banking, communication apps, and even emergency information was severely affected. 'The blackout may have bought the government time during military tensions, but it also caused massive frustration,' said a cybersecurity analyst. 'It cut off people from basic services and contact with their loved ones.' Experts say it was also about control Beyond national security concerns, analysts believe the move was also aimed at silencing dissent and controlling the narrative. With no internet, the public had limited access to battlefield updates, social media, or outside news. 'It wasn't just about Israel,' one expert said. 'It was also about suppressing unrest and hiding internal losses.' Starlink enters the conversation Shortly after the blackout began, Elon Musk revealed that Starlink, his satellite internet service, had been activated for Iran. While not officially licensed there, people with the right equipment could potentially bypass restrictions. Cyber tension remains high Even as internet access returns, tensions in cyberspace are still rising. The US has warned of potential Iranian-linked cyberattacks on American networks, especially from groups tied to the Iranian state. GPS disruptions have also been reported, with smartphones in various countries showing wrong time zones or map data—another layer of the digital fallout from the conflict. The bottom line Iran's internet blackout was more than just a security move—it became a national inconvenience, a tool for control, and a trigger for public anger. While access is coming back, the digital scars of the shutdown are likely to linger.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
British-Iranians struggling to contact friends and family who fear punishment by Tehran regime
With Iran now in the midst of a near-total internet blackout, communication is dire - but we've managed to piece together a picture of a country where there is fear and panic, but where activists say the ruling regime is still in control. We meet British-Iranians Amir Javadzadeh and Attieh Fard in the UK - struggling to get through to their friends and family in Iran. Hour by hour, it's getting harder and harder. Amir finally makes contact with a friend in the eastern city of Mashhad. We are calling the friend "Ali" to protect his identity. Ali paints a worrying picture of people struggling to get hold of basics like bread and fuel. Middle East latest: Trump says he 'may or may not' strike Iran He later sends us a video he's taken of a huge fuel queue in the city. "My wife is in hospital and I have to go there all the time and I don't have any fuel or medicine for her. "Really it's a difficult time for us, and we don't have gasoline, we have problems preparing food. All the people have fear,' he adds. Not only is there a shortage of fuel - but some people who have fled the capital Tehran are coming to Mashhad, he adds. 'I'm really angry… we're actually, you know, we are stuck in the middle of a war between our government and the Israelis,' Ali said. People in Iran are terrified to speak to Western media - afraid of being punished by the Iranian regime. Although some have been prepared to share videos with us anonymously, like the one below, that they've filmed of the bombing in Tehran. Attieh Fard shared with us a message exchange between her and one of her relatives, one says: 'Everyone has worries and stress….They (the Israelis) won't stop until they hit the target.' Despite the dangers, one member of a group of anti-regime activists agreed to speak to us from the capital Tehran - we have changed his name to "Sam", to hide his identity. Read more: With America threatening to bomb Iran, Sam described the ongoing conflict as a "very historical moment in our Iranian history'. Asked if he is afraid of US intervention, he said: "Not at all because the Americans, we believe, are not going to fight with the people, they are fighting with the Islamic Republic. They're against the ideology of the Islamic republic. So that's why we're not afraid. 'The view from inside Iran is that if a US attack happens, I think it will result in the fall of the Islamic Republic. I think these are the tools and the people inside are ready to take over the situation once the regime is weakened."
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Life is full of unexpected surprises': People trying to call Iran meet mysterious voice message
People trying to call friends and loved ones inside Iran have instead been met with strange, pre-recorded voice messages, which some experts believe may be part of the regime's wider internet blackout. In a recording of a telephone call heard by CNN, a person outside of Iran hoping to hear their friend's voice on the other line, was instead met with a robotic voice. 'Hello, and thank you for taking the time to listen,' the voice says. 'Life is full of unexpected surprises,' it continues, 'and these surprises can sometimes bring joy while, at other times, they challenge us. 'The key is to discover the strength within us to overcome these challenges.' The unsettling message, which lasts nearly 90 seconds, then goes on to recommend the listener close their eyes and imagine themself in a place that brings them 'peace and happiness.' While different variations have been reported, this version appears to have been the one most commonly heard by people outside Iran placing calls to mobile phones inside the country on Wednesday and Thursday. No similar message was reported when calling landlines. The messages were widely heard after Iran imposed nationwide temporary restrictions on internet access on Wednesday, citing security concerns. This meant WhatsApp was down, so people abroad began calling their friends and family in Iran directly, rather than via the app. The message is reportedly not heard if the call is made through an app. The initial assumption for many Iranians was that the messages were the result of an Israeli cyberattack. Others see the Iranian authorities as being behind them. Alp Toker, the founder and director of NetBlocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet governance, believes the messages are an attempt by the Iranian government to limit telecommunications, as part of the wider internet censorship measures. 'The point is, when the internet is cut, the phones need to go somewhere, and that will go to the fallback message on the device,' he told CNN. Toker added it was a phenomenon NetBlocks had seen in different places around the world when internet access was cut. 'Sometimes it will have an advert for summer vacations and sometimes it will have some other nonsense,' he said. According to Toker, the messages are text-to-speech generated. He believes they appear to have been set up rapidly. 'It's in the format of a normal gateway answering message of the type you might get from a national gateway when a phone doesn't answer,' he said. 'It seems that they've gone with the settings, and there's a little box where you can put in the settings and they've put something in there, pre-AI generated.' Meanwhile, a UK-based telecommunications expert who listened to a recording of the most commonly heard message told CNN that 'the call appears to be hijacked after the second ring, which is highly unusual and deeply concerning. This suggests interference at the network level – well before a proper connection is established.' The expert asked not to be named for safety reasons. Neither Israel nor Iran has made a public statement on the recorded phone messages. Access to international internet services had been partially restored in parts of Iran on Saturday 'after approximately 62 hours of severe disruption,' NetBlocks said. 'While some regions have seen improvements, overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels, continuing to hinder people's ability to communicate freely and access independent information,' it added. The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that international internet services would resume by 8 p.m. local time Saturday, citing the communications minister. However, Tasnim later reported that this was not the case, citing the same minister. According to the communications ministry, Iranians abroad can now contact their families inside Iran through domestic messaging apps. The Iranian government has frequently restricted internet access in the country. During nationwide protests in 2022, authorities implemented multiple internet shutdowns in an effort to stifle dissent.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘Life is full of unexpected surprises': People trying to call Iran meet mysterious voice message
People stand on a rooftop amid billowing smoke following an overnight Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran's capital, on June 17. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) People trying to call friends and loved ones inside Iran have instead been met with strange, pre-recorded voice messages, which some experts believe may be part of the regime's wider internet blackout. In a recording of a telephone call heard by CNN, a person outside of Iran hoping to hear their friend's voice on the other line, was instead met with a robotic voice. 'Hello, and thank you for taking the time to listen,' the voice says. 'Life is full of unexpected surprises,' it continues, 'and these surprises can sometimes bring joy while, at other times, they challenge us. 'The key is to discover the strength within us to overcome these challenges.' The unsettling message, which lasts nearly 90 seconds, then goes on to recommend the listener close their eyes and imagine themself in a place that brings them 'peace and happiness.' While different variations have been reported, this version appears to have been the one most commonly heard by people outside Iran placing calls to mobile phones inside the country on Wednesday and Thursday. No similar message was reported when calling landlines. The messages were widely heard after Iran imposed nationwide temporary restrictions on internet access on Wednesday, citing security concerns. This meant WhatsApp was down, so people abroad began calling their friends and family in Iran directly, rather than via the app. The message is reportedly not heard if the call is made through an app. The initial assumption for many Iranians was that the messages were the result of an Israeli cyberattack. Others see the Iranian authorities as being behind them. Alp Toker, the founder and director of NetBlocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet governance, believes the messages are an attempt by the Iranian government to limit telecommunications, as part of the wider internet censorship measures. 'The point is, when the internet is cut, the phones need to go somewhere, and that will go to the fallback message on the device,' he told CNN. Toker added it was a phenomenon NetBlocks had seen in different places around the world when internet access was cut. 'Sometimes it will have an advert for summer vacations and sometimes it will have some other nonsense,' he said. According to Toker, the messages are text-to-speech generated. He believes they appear to have been set up rapidly. 'It's in the format of a normal gateway answering message of the type you might get from a national gateway when a phone doesn't answer,' he said. 'It seems that they've gone with the settings, and there's a little box where you can put in the settings and they've put something in there, pre-AI generated.' Meanwhile, a U.K.-based telecommunications expert who listened to a recording of the most commonly heard message told CNN that 'the call appears to be hijacked after the second ring, which is highly unusual and deeply concerning. This suggests interference at the network level – well before a proper connection is established.' The expert asked not to be named for safety reasons. Neither Israel nor Iran has made a public statement on the recorded phone messages. Access to international internet services had been partially restored in parts of Iran on Saturday 'after approximately 62 hours of severe disruption,' NetBlocks said. 'While some regions have seen improvements, overall connectivity remains below ordinary levels, continuing to hinder people's ability to communicate freely and access independent information,' it added. The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that international internet services would resume by 8 p.m. local time Saturday, citing the communications minister. However, Tasnim later reported that this was not the case, citing the same minister. According to the communications ministry, Iranians abroad can now contact their families inside Iran through domestic messaging apps. The Iranian government has frequently restricted internet access in the country. During nationwide protests in 2022, authorities implemented multiple internet shutdowns in an effort to stifle dissent. By Sophie Tanno.
New York Times
21-06-2025
- New York Times
Iranians Find Pockets of Connection Amid Internet Blackout
After Iranians were cut off from the world for four days, the country's nearly complete internet blackout was abruptly lifted late Friday for some Iranians, who managed to get access to weak connections by switching to different servers or perhaps through sheer luck. But many said they thought the connections were temporary or unsafe, with the government still imposing tight restrictions that were difficult to bypass. 'It feels like we're in a dark cave,' said Arta, an Iranian who fled Tehran on Tuesday and was able to briefly send a few messages over Instagram late Friday. Like many others who have exchanged messages with The New York Times over the last week, he asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid scrutiny by the authorities. 'Even SMS texts don't go through sometimes,' he said. Many Iranians rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade government restrictions on the internet, but many of those services have been disrupted since Israel's attacks began. On Saturday, as some connection returned, providers urged their users to act cautiously. 'For your own sake, don't spread the link, the server will disconnect, and our work will only get harder,' one organizer wrote on a VPN provider's Telegram channel. The organizer warned that reports of disconnection were increasing again, and asked subscribers to not share their product link because their server was overwhelmed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
