Tehran, Iran – Most of Iran’s 90 million-strong population has been cut off from the rest of the world for more than a week after an unprecedented, state-imposed communications blackout hit the country. ProhibitionThat started in December and quickly turned deadly.
The Iranian government abruptly shut down all internet access in 31 provinces of the vast country on the night of January 8 as protests against the clerical leadership escalated, with shopkeepers first closing their businesses in central Tehran in protest. Rising prices.
Mobile communications were also blocked and people could not even call rescue services that first night.
After the blackout began, it took several days for authorities to restore an intranet designed to provide access to local websites and services.
It is unclear when or to what extent global Internet access will be restored. Local phone services have been restored but SMS text messages are blocked.
As of Tuesday, only outgoing international phone calls have been reconnected. The state has been sending out several one-way text messages every day, urging people across the country not to fall prey to the tactics of “enemies” and to report any suspicious activity.
Blamed on foreign ‘factors’
The government has not released official figures on the number of people killed in clashes between protesters and government forces on the night of January 8 and January 9. United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (food) put the death toll at 2,615 on Wednesday this week, although the Iranian government’s claim is an exaggeration.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi refused Tehran planned to execute the protesters. During that interview, he downplayed the reported death toll.
“I definitely reject the numbers and figures they said. It’s an exaggeration, it’s a disinformation campaign, just to find excuses, just to do another aggression against Iran,” Araghchi said, adding that the numbers are being exaggerated to involve US President Donald Trump in the conflict.
Iranian officials have confirmed that protesters including children, women and unarmed civilians are among the dead, with officials claiming that “terrorists” and “elements” trained and armed by the US, Israel and their allies are responsible for all the mass killings as well as “rioters” who attacked government buildings and burned public property across the country.
Iranian officials have not confirmed the killing of the protesters by state forces. Instead, they have instead claimed that members of the Iranian military were killed by burning or beheading.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify casualty figures due to a communications blackout.
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday and in communications with the UN and international stakeholders, Iranian officials blamed the deaths during the protests on the US and Israel, saying they hijacked the protests, which began peacefully in response to rapidly deteriorating economic conditions.
The UN has stressed that violence should not be used against protesters. At the same time, any kind of armed intervention is also opposed Constant worry That Trump Can attack Iran As he has threatened to do.
Rioters ‘have no mercy’
The streets of Tehran and other cities across the country are relatively quiet after the deadly protests. But many may fear what will happen next.
There is a heavy presence of security forces on the streets, where numerous checkpoints and armed patrols have been set up.
The government has organized mass protests across the country in the past several days and held public funerals for slain security forces in several cities, including Tehran.
State television called those taking part in the demonstrations “the true people of Iran” while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that Iranians taking part in the state-organized demonstrations had “thwarted the plot of foreign enemies carried out by local mercenaries”.
The judiciary has set up courts and said it will prioritize protest-related cases, with Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ajei promising no mercy for “rioters”.
Deadliest protests in years
Trump said late Wednesday that he had received assurances that the Iranian government would not execute the protesters.
Iran’s state media denied foreign media reports that a young man had been sentenced to death for taking part in the unrest and could be hanged soon.
In his first interview on state television earlier this week to address the public since the protests, President Massoud Pezheshkian chose to focus on condemning violent “terrorists” and economic reforms, not mentioning that the entire country is suffering from a state-imposed digital blackout.
The Pezeshkian administration has begun rolling out electronic coupons that cost less than $7 per person each month to buy government-subsidized essentials as skyrocketing inflation erodes public purchasing power.
This is not the first time protests have taken place in Iran in recent years. People say they are angry about corruption, mismanagement, economic hardship, currency devaluation and destruction of social liberties.
In September 2022, a young woman named Mahsa Amini, aged 22, was arrested in Tehran for allegedly wearing a hijab improperly. She collapsed while in custody and died in hospital a few days later.
Her death sparked national outrage and weeks of widespread protests in Iran. Slogans like ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ were given on the streets. HRANA reported in October 2022 that 200 people died and around 5,500 were arrested during those protests.
But this latest wave of protests, which began with a few shopkeepers in Tehran in December, has been the largest and almost certainly the deadliest in recent years.