Iranian television announced the complete restoration of Internet service within the country, stressing that access to international websites and electronic services has become available “without restrictions,” after months of almost complete interruption that accompanied the war and security tensions.
The announcement comes hours after widespread internal controversy sparked by the judiciary’s decision to suspend the work of a presidential body that had ordered the gradual restoration of Internet service, in a move that revealed the extent of the discrepancy within Iran’s government institutions regarding the management of digital restrictions during the current stage.
The “Special Authority for Regulating and Managing Cyberspace,” which was established by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian this May, announced on Monday the start of gradually restoring service, before the judiciary intervened and suspended its work.
According to Agence France-Presse, the judicial decision reflected the escalation of disagreement within government institutions regarding the Internet file and the digital restrictions imposed since the outbreak of the war with the United States and Israel.
Earlier, the organization “NetBlocks,” which specializes in monitoring the Internet, reported a partial return of service inside Iran, after about 2,093 hours of “almost complete isolation,” describing what happened as “the longest comprehensive national blockage of the Internet in modern history.”
During the past months, Iran has experienced an almost complete blackout in digital communications, amid official accusations of using electronic networks in “cyberwar” and internal incitement, which has made the Internet part of the tools for war management and internal control.
Observers believe that restoring the Internet comes in light of increasing economic and popular pressure, in addition to the Bezeshkian government’s efforts to show a greater degree of openness, in conjunction with the ongoing negotiations with the United States about stopping the war and lifting some economic restrictions.
The long outage also sparked widespread criticism within Iran, due to its direct impact on business, banking services and daily communication, in addition to the huge losses incurred by the technology sector and digital companies.
The return of the Internet goes beyond its technical dimension, as it carries a clear political significance at a moment when the Iranian government is trying to reduce internal pressure and restore some aspects of normal life, without losing control of the digital space, which the security and judicial institutions view as a sensitive arena during the war.
These developments also reveal that the Internet issue has become one of the headlines of the conflict within the Iranian authority, between a government trend that wants to ease restrictions and absorb popular anger, and a more stringent approach that sees digital openness as a security risk in light of the confrontation with the outside world.
Thus, Iran is gradually returning to connection with the digital world, but the question remains about the stability of this decision, and whether the full return of the Internet will turn into an ongoing policy, or remain linked to developments in negotiation, war, and balances within the institutions of government.
