Iran’s Internet Traffic Drops to 'Near Zero' as Protests Intensify

In brief

• Internet traffic monitors say internet traffic in Iran fell to near zero Thursday evening and remains offline.
• The shutdown followed days of protests driven by economic grievances and calls for regime change.
• It’s unclear whether satellites providing internet services like Starlink are accessible.

Iran’s internet traffic cratered on Thursday as authorities imposed a nationwide shutdown amid escalating protests calling for regime change, according to data from Cloudflare and independent monitoring groups. “Current internet usage in the region is basically non-existent,” David Belson, head of data insight at Cloudflare, told Decrypt. Internet traffic in Iran “dropped to near-zero as of 18:45 UTC (10:15 p.m. local time) and remains at that level,” he added. The near-total blackout came as protests spread across Tehran and multiple major cities, with demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Islamic government and clashing with security forces. Iranian authorities warned of a harsh response and blamed foreign actors for the unrest. 

The current wave of protests began in late December, driven by high inflation, a collapsing currency, and rising living costs. Demonstrations have intensified this week after calls for mass protests circulated online, including appeals from exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavifor. As crowds grew, authorities moved to restrict internet access, a step officials have described as a security measure to prevent unrest and limit coordination. Internet monitoring groups, including NetBlocks, also reported a sharp collapse in connectivity, describing the outage as a nationwide blackout that left the country almost completely offline.

“Live network data show #Tehran and other parts of Iran are now entering a digital blackout, as internet connectivity falls on multiple providers,” NetBlocks wrote on Mastodon. “The new incident follows regional shutdowns, and is likely to severely limit coverage of events on the ground as protests spread.” Iran has repeatedly used internet shutdowns during periods of unrest to disrupt protest coordination and limit the flow of information to the outside world. Whether alternative connectivity services such as Starlink were accessible during the blackout—as some social media users have claimed — remains unclear, and neither SpaceX nor its chief executive, Elon Musk, has confirmed that Starlink service was enabled in Iran. During a nationwide internet shutdown in Iran in June 2025, Musk publicly confirmed that Starlink had been activated, writing, “the beams are on,” after authorities cut access for an estimated 90 million people. Musk has also previously enabled Starlink in conflict zones, including over Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion, and again in Gaza in 2024 to support medical workers during Israel’s war with Hamas. Independent data continues to show Iran remains almost entirely disconnected from the global internet.