With the minimal internet access restoration, Iran maneuvers protesters

Mahmoud Mohamadi

Iran says it has restored partial access to some internet services at one of its 31 provinces on Thursday November 21 after 6 days of almost total communication blackout imposed by the government, Iranian news agencies reported.

The shutdown persisted for five days with practically every Iranian citizen lacking internet access or wireless data service. Finally, on the fifth day, Iran began restoring access in Tehran as well as in a number of provinces.

The access is limited to the use of picture sharing platform Instagram and social networking application WhatsApp.

Other reports say minimal internet connection has been restored on landlines at some of the universities in Tehran, but mobile internet is still not available except to handpicked regime insiders such as Vice-President Massoumeh Ebtekar and some other cabinet members.

Some Iranian journalists have also said they have minimal access to the net, but have been told by authorities not to upload anything or share their access with anyone else.

International internet watchdog NetBlocks says, 8 percent of internet connections in Iran have been restored after Iran blocked internet access last week to prevent the net from being used for mobilizing and organizing crowds following a nationwide unrest that started on Friday and the government claims that it has suppressed by use of force.

According to NetBlocks, “A small return of connectivity has been tracked in Iran at shutdown hour 113, along with reports that some users have come online; real-time network data show national connectivity up slightly to 8%; unclear if restoration will be sustained.”

Meanwhile, security forces stormed gatherings at the Tehran University late Wednesday and arrested 40 students. The detainees were taken to an unidentified place in several ambulances, eyewitnesses say.

For his part, Firas Elias, a specialist in national security affairs and Iranian studies said: The Iranian government cut the Internet service to the country instead of containing the demonstrations, stressing that the Iranian authorities have re-activated the electronic ban on many applications used by Iranian citizens in social media To stop the momentum of the spread of these demonstrations.

Elias explained that while Iranian citizens are denied access to social media, they are available to Iranian officials. For example, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has an active Twitter account. One million and 300 thousand followers, while the number of followers of President Rouhani to 800 thousand followers.

The protests erupted on November 15, 2019, after the government announced a rise in gasoline prices by at least 50%, and started in several towns in different provinces before spreading in about 100 cities and towns of Iran, and soon turned protesters to political demands, including the removal of senior state officials.