Domestic reports speak of limited reopening and privileged access, while most Iranians remain cut off after more than six weeks.
Domestic media outlets such as Donya-ye Eqtesad reported on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, an “increase in access to the international internet for some groups” and the possibility of a “gradual reopening.” They referred to limited access for academics for research purposes, as well as programmers’ restricted use of certain websites.
At the same time, Mohsen Pasha, acting deputy for security at the National Center for Cyberspace, announced that “consultations are under way to reopen IPs and some essential public needs, and efforts are being made to reopen business IPs and focus on improving network infrastructure.”
Yet Nima Ghazi, head of the Tehran E-Commerce Association, has stressed in a different statement that despite all the plans being discussed, “no practical action has been taken and companies still have not gained access to special business internet.”
In this atmosphere of ambiguity, the issue of so-called “Internet Pro” has also been raised, which some view as a more formal version of “class-based internet.” The scheme is said to be intended to provide freer access for specific groups, including professional associations or verified individuals, not free of charge but at costs that some reports estimate at more than two million tomans per user, with each gigabyte of unfiltered internet costing around 8,000 tomans and filtered internet around 40,000 tomans.
It has also been reported that some users—including even those who had previously held “white-line” access, a reference to privileged “white SIM cards” that give select users unfiltered or less restricted internet access—received text messages implicitly warning that if they did not accept the scheme, their access to the open internet would be returned to a filtered state. According to reports, no official body has accepted responsibility either for sending these messages or for setting this policy.
These same reports also point to contradictions in implementation policies. On the one hand, various institutions have announced the start of registration or the design of special internet access for businesses, and forms have even been circulated for applications. On the other hand, as the head of the Tehran E-Commerce Association has said, these plans “have still not reached the implementation stage,” and one of the main reasons, according to him, is opposition from certain security bodies.
Alongside these accounts, there have also been reports that some international services have been partially reopened, including access to scientific databases such as ScienceDirect and Springer, as well as web-development infrastructure services such as Vercel. In the view of analysts, this shows that the pattern of access is neither uniform nor public, but rather selective and irregular.
In contrast to the reports in domestic media, NetBlocks, the international internet-monitoring organization, wrote on Wednesday:
The internet shutdown in Iran has now entered its 47th day, after 1,104 hours without international connectivity for the general public. This continues to severely limit Iranians’ ability to check on the safety of friends and loved ones across the border.
NetBlocks’ report fundamentally does not align with the image of a “gradual reopening” presented in some domestic media and calls it into question.
Fatemeh Mohajerani, the government spokesperson, had said on Monday, April 13, 2026: “The restoration of international internet connectivity depends on the final decision and review of the responsible authorities and security bodies.” In another part of her remarks, referring to the so-called white internet, she emphasized that she did not have exact information about the individuals receiving such access or how it was being granted.
Alongside all these statements, economic reports have also pointed to the heavy costs of the continuation of this situation. Afshin Kolahi, head of the Knowledge-Based Businesses Commission at the Iran Chamber of Commerce, said last Sunday:
The direct damage caused by the internet shutdown is between 30 and 40 million dollars a day, and if indirect consequences are taken into account, that figure reaches around 80 million dollars a day.
According to Afshin Kolahi, this is happening while “the cost of rebuilding the B1 Bridge, a major bridge in Karaj on the Tehran–Karaj corridor that Iranian authorities describe as the highest bridge in the Middle East, is estimated at around 20 million dollars, and building each megawatt of power generation capacity requires around 3 million dollars in investment.”
Emphasizing that these losses are taking place in the digital economy, Kolahi added: “In practice, every day we are witnessing the destruction of several major bridges and power plants; but because this destruction is neither tangible nor visible, the necessary sensitivity toward it does not exist.”
His remarks drew a sharp reaction from some pro-government social media users, and some accused him of “collaborating with the enemy” because he had defended lifting internet restrictions.
Officials of the Islamic Republic began the widespread shutdown of the internet on February 28, 2026, the day the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran began. The shutdown is still continuing and has affected the country’s population of more than 93 million people.
After the near-total internet shutdown during the 12-day war with Israel last spring, and the 21-day disruption that coincided with the January 2026 uprising, this is the third internet shutdown in less than the past 12 months.
With the Internet Shutdown Continuing in Iran, Businesses Face Billions of Dollars in Losses
Pedram Soltani, an economic activist and strategist, called on government officials last Wednesday to restore internet access immediately and warned that “small businesses are collapsing.”
At the same time, Siamak Ghassemi, an economist, also stressed that although many people have temporarily turned to domestic platforms, these platforms will never replace the global internet.
Ghassemi warned: “Many businesses are in their final breaths, and large-scale layoffs in service-sector jobs have already begun.”
These remarks came at the same time as a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, brokered by Pakistan, which opened the way for sensitive negotiations in Islamabad. Yet those talks ended without a final agreement, and the possibility of a second round of negotiations later this week has been raised.
Despite the ceasefire, internet restrictions are still continuing, and Iran’s security and intelligence officials have said these measures are meant to prevent the “enemy” from “exploiting” wartime conditions.
At the same time, the combined impact of the internet shutdown and the six-week war has in practice paralyzed parts of Iran’s economy.
At a meeting in Tehran, the heads of the provincial chambers of commerce examined this crisis. Mohammad Irani, head of the Qom Chamber of Commerce, warned of severe disruption in different sectors, including the packaging-supply chain and the petrochemical industry, and said that returning conditions to normal would be difficult.
Mohammad Sadegh Hamidian, head of the Shiraz Chamber of Commerce, also pointed to the fundamental challenges of the country’s commercial system and stressed: “We must act with cohesion and unity, and a strategy must be developed for transforming economic governance.”
He added: “The private sector must take responsibility for shaping the economy.”
According to Rudaw’s report, officials have arrested a number of people who had gained access to the global internet through VPNs or used Starlink devices, tools that make high-speed satellite connectivity possible.
One resident of Kermanshah Province, who did not want his name disclosed for security reasons, said: “I paid 100 million rials for unlimited access.”
He added: “Many people and businesses are suffering because of this shutdown.”
This is happening while Iranian citizens have been forced to pay millions of rials for internet access, at a time when the national currency fell earlier this year to an unprecedented record of 1.45 million rials against each U.S. dollar.
