President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the reopening of international internet access after nearly 87 days of blockade due to the war with the US and Israel. For nearly three months, Iranians have been unable to access the global internet, except for a select few who can afford to use expensive VPNs to bypass the blockade or have smuggled StarLink terminals.
The exact method and timing of global connectivity restoration remains unknown, according to Iranian media reports. The internet blockade originally began on January 8 after massive anti-government protests. Access was gradually restored in February, but was cut off again after the US and Israeli strikes on February 28 in Operation Epic Fury.
Iran's international internet blockade is the longest ever imposed on a country. The record for the longest international internet blockade is 552 days involving only the Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir between August 2019 and March 2020. In both cases, protecting the country's security from external influence was cited as the reason for the blockade.
