Iranian merchants are restricted to 20 minutes of supervised daily internet access for international transactions as Iran experiences its longest-ever internet blackout, now exceeding 400 hours amid nationwide protests.
Iranian merchants have only 20 minutes of supervised internet access per day to conduct international business operations, according to Iran International. Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, confirmed the internet is available in Tehran and other provinces for registered individuals needing to maintain operations with China. “The time given is undesirable, only allowing to check a couple of emails in a short 20-minute span,” Hariri said.
Iran has been cut off from the internet since January 8, marking the country’s longest internet blackout in history, with NetBlocks reporting minimal activity after 400 hours. Ali Hakim Javadi, head of the Computer Industry Organization, announced that daily outages cause economic damage between two and three trillion tomans ($18-27 million). The Islamic Republic has used the shutdown as part of its repression mechanism to crack down on nationwide protests ongoing since late December.