After two weeks of a near-total shutdown of internet and telephone services imposed by Iranian authorities in the wake of nationwide protests, brief and intermittent connections have emerged in recent days for a limited number of users. Some social media users and protesters have managed—often with great difficulty—to get online and share new images and firsthand accounts of the severe and bloody crackdown carried out by the Islamic Republic.
These fragile, heavily filtered connections have enabled the release of new documentation pointing to the scale of violence and the killing of more than 30,000 civilians, according to claims circulating among activists, during the days when Iran was plunged into digital darkness and cut off from the outside world.
In this context, Fariborz, a 30-year-old office worker from Tehran, told NOW that he had only just managed to access the international internet for a few minutes after two weeks of total disconnection. “These days of internet shutdown were a strange and shocking experience,” he said. Describing the situation as “worse and more bitter” than the internet blackout following the 2019 protests. He added that many citizens still have no access whatsoever to international communications. According to Fariborz, a pervasive sense of grief now hangs over Iranian society: “There is a collective mourning—everyone is carrying sorrow.”
Meanwhile, the international internet-monitoring organization NetBlocks published reports and data visualizations on the social platform X rejecting claims by Iranian state-linked media and accounts that 40 per cent of internet access had been restored. NetBlocks described those claims as inaccurate and misleading.
For nearly three weeks, cities across Iran have been gripped by nationwide protests and strikes. Demonstrators, in peaceful and unarmed marches, have called for the overthrow of Iran’s religious government and the return of Reza Pahlavi, the former crown prince.
The current wave of unrest began after commercial sectors in Tehran—and subsequently in other major cities—went on strike in protest against what they described as ineffective monetary and banking policies. In the second week, citizens protesting increasingly severe economic conditions joined the movement.
Sara, a 19-year-old university student from a small town in Northern Iran, described her experience to NOW as “one of the worst moments” of her life. Using a VPN to access Instagram, she said she was confronted with a flood of “horrifying news” about killings in other cities after viewing posts and stories shared by Iranians abroad. She added that she had personally witnessed several protesters being killed by live ammunition. “When I saw how extreme the violence was even in a small town,” she said, “I assumed the death toll must be high. But seeing leaked images and videos of bodies piled together and large numbers of the dead in morgues and holding areas left me completely shocked,” Sara told NOW.
After Iran’s ideological government imposed a complete internet blackout, a small number of citizens—accepting potentially deadly risks to themselves and their families—used Starlink satellite connections to transmit images of crimes and the killing of protesters to international media and organizations. Under Iranian law, the use of Starlink equipment is prohibited, and possession can reportedly carry severe penalties, including the death sentence. Since the beginning of the protests, authorities have also attempted to disrupt Starlink access, making its use increasingly difficult.
Mehdi, a 43-year-old shopkeeper from Shiraz, told NOW that the atmosphere during the recent crackdown and blackout felt “completely different” from anything he had experienced during decades of previous protests. “Everything has changed,” he said. “There’s a strange feeling—as if we’ve entered an entirely new phase. A powerful collective emotion that combines both anger and deep frustration.” Referring to what he described as Western governments passing responsibility back and forth over Iran’s future. Mehdi added that people under heavy repression feel that the international community has “left them defenseless.”
In recent weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran’s leadership with serious—and even devastating—consequences, though he has not specified the nature or scope of any potential action. At the same time, daily gatherings by Iranians abroad have been held to express solidarity with the families of those killed and to call for foreign intervention or assistance for the Iranian people.
So far, however, many European governments have limited their response to diplomatic statements and press remarks condemning the Islamic Republic’s violent actions, without announcing any concrete or practical measures.
Armin Soleimani is a Middle East reporter
The views in this story reflect those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of NOW.
