Pezeshkian Has Ordered Iran's Internet Restored, but Day 88 Is Still Dark

Key Takeaways

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the Ministry of Communications to restore international internet access on day 87 of the country's near-total digital blackout, one of the longest in Iran's history.
• ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi confirmed to Shargh Daily that the restoration process had begun, with the resolution passing 9–2 among the 11 task force members present at the first official session.
• On day 88, NetBlocks confirmed connectivity in Iran remained at around 1–3%, with the country surpassing 2,088 hours of isolation from the global internet.
• IRGC-affiliated Fars News publicly questioned whether the president had the legal authority to issue the order, arguing only the Supreme National Security Council could reverse its own decision.
• The head of state broadcasting and the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, the latter a presidential appointee Pezeshkian chose to retain, voted against restoration at the task force meeting.

Ninety Million People, One Presidential Order, Zero Connectivity

Iran's near-total internet blackout, which began on February 28 when US and Israeli strikes hit the country and the regime did what it always does in a crisis, has now entered its 88th consecutive day. On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the Ministry of Communications to restore international internet access to its pre-January status.

ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi confirmed that the process had already begun, stating: "With the order of the President, and after holding three intensive expert sessions and ultimately the first official session of the Special Task Force, the process of returning the country's internet to its pre-January status has begun." State news agency ISNA reported the restoration was expected to take effect Tuesday.

Tuesday arrived. NetBlocks confirmed connectivity in Iran remained at around 1–3%, with the country surpassing 2,088 hours of isolation from the outside world. Ninety million people are still cut off.

A Split Vote, a Disputed Order, and the IRGC Calling Foul

The resolution passed 9–2 among the 11 of 15 task force members present at the Special Task Force on Cyberspace Management's first official session. That majority did not stop the pushback from arriving almost immediately.

IRGC-affiliated Fars News questioned the administration's legal authority to issue the order at all, arguing that because the Supreme National Security Council had originally imposed the restrictions, only that body could reverse them.

Among the most vocal opponents inside the task force were Peyman Jebelli, head of Iran's state broadcaster, and Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace. Aghamiri's position is a presidential appointment, and Pezeshkian chose to retain him from the previous administration, making his public vote against the president's stated priorities a complication entirely of the president's own making.

A Campaign Promise Meets a System That Answers to No President

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Pezeshkian repeatedly promised to ease internet filtering. His spokesman confirmed on Monday he still regards restoring access as a personal concern, and Hashemi described the internet as part of the country's "vital infrastructure," warning that the shutdown risked "weakening investment, brain drain, and the spread of communication patterns outside the official governance framework."

Iran's central bank governor had reportedly urged Pezeshkian to restore access as part of emergency economic stabilization measures, with the shutdown costing tens of millions of dollars a day. But while the order was issued on day 87, on day 88, connectivity sits at 1-3%, and the IRGC's media arm is already arguing the president lacked the authority to issue it.

Iran was already among the most restricted internet environments in the world before February 28, with authorities steadily building the National Information Network, a domestic intranet designed to deliver services without dependence on the global web. So in reality, the blackout just made that architecture impossible to ignore.

And now, whether the internet comes back and whether it holds depends on institutions that have never answered to the presidency to begin with. I find it difficult to call this a malfunction. It is the system working exactly as designed, and the ninety million people living inside it are paying the price.

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