Iran's president orders internet access restored after months of blackout. A regime publication raises questions
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an order on Monday to reopen access to the global Internet, according to the announcement made by an official quoted by state media on Monday, after almost 90 days of blackout in the context of the war launched by the United States and Israel, Reuters wrote.
Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology later told the daily Shargh that authorities had begun the process of restoring internet access to levels prior to the restrictions originally introduced in January.
The announcement made by Sattar Hashemi did not detail how the reconnection to the global network will be done after the decision taken by the president.
Fars News, a publication affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, had questioned the administration's authority to issue such an order, arguing that the decision to restrict internet access was made by the Supreme National Security Council and that the same body must therefore overturn them, the opposition publication Iran International wrote.
No internet for almost 90 days
Most Iranians have been without access to the world's Internet for 87 days, profile watchdog NetBlocks said on Monday. Some citizens, however, used advanced and expensive VPNs to bypass the restrictions.
Initially, the authorities had ordered the interruption of internet access starting on January 8 in response to the anti-government protests. The situation gradually returned to normal in February, but a new blackout was imposed after the attack launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Even in peacetime, Internet access remains heavily restricted in Iran, where many websites are censored, and authorities have increasingly used an intranet to provide services without relying on the global Internet, especially for schools that now conduct their classes online.
