Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has approved the decision to lift the extensive international internet restrictions that have been in place for months. According to information reported by Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, Pezeshkian signed the decision to “provide international internet connectivity,” which was accepted during the Virtual Space Regulation Council meeting chaired by First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, and forwarded it to the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology for implementation.
Decision approved by majority vote in the council
During the Virtual Space Regulation Council meeting, the proposal to reopen international internet access nationwide was approved with 9 votes in favor and 3 against. This decision was also confirmed by the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
Economic and social grounds of the blackout
Global internet access in Iran was initially completely cut off for about a month in January, following the street protests that began at the end of December 2025. Subsequently, access to the international network was blocked again due to the US and Israeli military operations and attacks that commenced on February 28, 2026. According to data from internet monitoring organization NetBlocks, ordinary internet users in the country had been unable to access the global network for 87 days, and connections could only be established to a limited extent through high-cost VPN applications.
Sattar Hashemi, Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, previously stated that the daily cost of internet blackouts to the country’s economy was approximately 34 million 500 thousand dollars. This prolonged digital blackout caused severe economic losses, particularly for internet-based small businesses and commercial sectors.
Transition to a gradual normalization process
Government Spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani and Government Information Council President Eliyas Hazrati stated that internet access will gradually return to normal now that the emergency period is over. Following the directive to lift the restrictions imposed for security reasons, it was reported that the ministry has initiated technical infrastructure work to reconnect to the global network.
