After three months of digital isolation, the international internet finally returned to Iran on the evening of May 26. Although censorship and filters are still in place, apps like WhatsApp are not fully functional, and Iranians have regained access to the VPNs they usually use to bypass state blockades.
The decision to restore the internet was made by President Masoud Pezeshkian, but it has caused a strong clash within the Iranian regime. The most radical wing, linked to the security apparatus and the Revolutionary Guard, opposes the lifting of digital restrictions and considers the open internet a threat to the security of the Islamic Republic. Two days ago, the presidency had announced the start of the process to restore the network, but yesterday afternoon the Iranian judiciary blocked the body created by Pezeshkian to manage cyberspace, arguing that the matter was not the competence of the presidency. In Iran, decisions on the internet and national security are made by the Supreme National Security Council, headed by the veteran of the Pasdaran Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
However, Pezeshkian did not back down. Through the presidential spokeswoman and Vice President Aref, he insisted on his decision, and by evening, Iranians’ phones and computers were reconnected to the global internet.
CENSORSHIP REASONED FOR SECURITY REASONS
The internet was shut down on January 8 during anti-government protests, which were violently suppressed. It was reopened for only 48 hours and then shut down again at the start of the war on February 28. This is considered the longest digital “blackout” in Iran’s history and has caused major economic and social consequences, eliminating hundreds or thousands of jobs and increasing stress for a population tired of war, inflation and repression. Iranian authorities have repeatedly justified the censorship on security grounds, claiming that they aimed to prevent cyberattacks and the organization of opposition movements. But for critics, the internet shutdown has mainly served to silence opponents and control the narrative of the war within the country.
The clash over the internet also reflects deep divisions within the Iranian establishment over negotiations with the Americans. Pezeshkian has repeatedly signaled a willingness to reach a “dignified” agreement with the West. For this reason, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf traveled to Doha to resolve the issues that are preventing the signing of the memorandum.
But there is a strong front in Iran against any compromise with the US. This group includes the conservative Kayhan newspaper, the Paydari movement, and the ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili, a former presidential candidate defeated by Pezeshkian. A section of the Revolutionary Guards is suspicious of the negotiations and fears that diplomacy could gradually turn into a strategic retreat disguised as economic recovery. The radicals demand that the Strait of Hormuz not be reopened without concrete benefits for Iran. They insist on the unlocking of Iranian assets frozen abroad, the easing of sanctions, and the withdrawal of the US military presence near Iran. Conservative MP Mahmoud Nabavian, part of the Iranian negotiating team in the direct talks in Islamabad, declared on the X network that an agreement that reopens Hormuz without recognition of Iranian sovereignty, without transit tariffs, and without economic compensation would be “a clear loss for Iran.”
These same officials and radical groups are demanding that the internet be shut down indefinitely, while every evening they organize rallies in support of the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, most Iranians remain silent, exhausted by the economic crisis and repression. The restoration of the internet could provide a breather for Iranian businesses, professionals, and young people, but it remains unclear whether this normalization will last, as will the negotiations with the West themselves.
“THIS IS NOT FREEDOM!” ANGER, ANXIETY AND TEARS AS INTERNET RETURNS.
After 88 days of a near-total internet shutdown in Iran, citizens began to partially reconnect to the network on Tuesday, May 27, receiving messages, photos and posts that had been delayed for months. The limited restoration of the internet was met with strong emotions, but not with celebrations, as many Iranians reacted with anger, fear and disappointment. “The internet has only regained some of its functions, but not its freedom,” said citizens from Tehran, accusing authorities of using the controlled restoration of the network to further monitor the population. An artist from Tehran revealed that she had gone online for the first time since February 28.
“We cried while listening to the music because we thought it was a small taste of freedom,” she said. While others called the Western media’s reaction “absurd,” stressing that the internet is a basic right and not a privilege to be celebrated.
The internet blockade was first imposed on January 8 during anti-government protests and was reinstated after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Only a few citizens managed to access the internet via expensive VPNs or satellite internet, while the majority remained in digital isolation for almost three months. Meanwhile, social media was flooded with videos of funerals, images of protests and messages about those killed or arrested. “What came back online was not freedom, but our misery,” said a professor in Tehran, summarizing the feelings of many Iranians after the partial restoration of the internet. (La Repubblica)