Iran’s Internet Shutdown Crush

In his studio in the Iranian capital, Amen Khademi created a fashion shoot for a jacket designed with Persian-inspired motifs. But even as she applied lipstick to the model, she was still distracted, worried about whether her business would survive after four months without her main link to customers – the internet.

Iran’s 90 million people remained cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world’s longest and strictest national shutdowns. This is devastating to an online economy that has long defied government restrictions and international sanctions. From fashion to fitness, to advertising and retailers, many have seen their income evaporate.

Khademi has not made any sales for several months. “The internet outage in the last four months has completely destroyed not only my business but many online businesses,” he said.

Despite an uneasy truce with the US and Israel, Iran’s rulers have refused to reverse the shutdown they have portrayed as a wartime necessity. But they are facing outrage as it faces mounting attacks on key industries and massive job losses due to the ongoing US blockade.

Before January, Iranians could access the Internet, but authorities blocked large amounts of content. Now, all access to the global web has been closed. Some solutions exist, but they have become too expensive and out of reach for most Iranians.

Afshin Kolahi, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, told a local newspaper that Internet cutoffs cost the economy $30–40 million a day, with indirect losses likely to be twice that much. According to Communications Minister Sattar Hashmi, the jobs of about 10 million people depend on internet connectivity.

An unprecedented shutdown devastated the online economy During Iran’s years of economic turmoil due to sanctions and mismanagement, platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp helped small businesses find customers, and helped people earn extra income to afford the skyrocketing prices of basic goods.

Iranian authorities first shut down the internet in January during mass anti-government protests. That cutoff had just begun to decline when the government imposed a total internet blackout on February 28 as the US and Israel started a war.

Mahsa Alimardani, an expert on internet censorship, said Kashmir and Myanmar have long blocked blocks affecting specific regions or platforms. Countries like China and North Korea with their “Great Firewalls” have always strictly limited access to the global Internet.

“The combination of scale and severity makes Iran’s shutdown unprecedented: an entire country of 90 million people with a developed digital economy deliberately returned to a controlled national intranet,” said Alimardani, associate director of technological threats and opportunities at the rights group Witness.

Online retailer Digikala, a key player in Iran’s digital economy, recently said it was laying off 200 people, about 3 percent of its workforce. The pain extends to “production, foreign trade and even traditional businesses,” Reza Olfatansab, head of a national group representing digital businesses, said in comments published in Iranian media.

Khademi’s shopfront is on Instagram. But his studio’s page – with more than 30,000 followers – is now inactive. She was shooting photos to save for later in hopes of finding an alternative.

His model Farnaz Ojaghaloo is also a fitness coach. The shutdown has shut down both her modeling programs and the online courses she runs for people in Iran and abroad.

“Psychologically, it hits really hard,” Ozaghloo said. “All your plans from six months or a year ago go to waste, and your only concern right now is survival.”
The options are ‘terrible’ For years, authorities in Iran have imposed filters and policed ​​content on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. But before the war, Iranians could bypass sanctions with cheap virtual private networks, known as VPNs, and other handy solutions.

Now, the shutdown has led to higher prices for black-market VPNs. Iranian state media regularly report arrests of people for using illegal VPNs or the US satellite system Starlink, which was banned last year.

Senior government officials are awarded “white” SIM cards, giving them access to the global Internet. Under pressure to minimize economic losses, the government is now allowing less-restricted Internet access to a small number of businesses, businesses and media.

An e-commerce trade group in Tehran condemned the tiered system in Iranian media on Wednesday, calling it “an abuse of every citizen’s clear need.” It said the cuts “risk the destruction of the country’s infrastructure at the hands of our own decision makers.” Most people have no choice but to use Iran’s national network.

A resident of Tehran who works in advertising said sponsors have little interest in paying for content that cannot be posted on major platforms such as Instagram, where he has thousands of followers. He said his income had dropped to almost zero since the war began.

A gamer in Isfahan – who also has a large following on YouTube and Instagram – said Iran’s home net is “terrible” – slow, insecure and full of bugs. They have also lost almost all their income from sponsorships and donations.

Iran has its own social media platforms based on services such as WhatsApp and YouTube, but the content is closely monitored and often censored.

The gamer said, “Nobody really wants to use these platforms, but there is no other option.” Both he and the advertising staff spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Increasing number of street vendors The shutdown has put new pressure on Iran’s once large and educated middle class, which was already suffering from the pre-war currency crash.

The economic decline in Iran has led to anti-government protests, most recently in December. More Iranians are now thinking about emigrating, said a software developer.

The developer – likewise speaking on condition of anonymity out of security fears – said the internet shutdown had ended remote work. He lost his job, he said, when his former company laid off almost all of its employees in recent weeks.

The result is visible in the increasing number of street vendors in Tehran. Reza Amiri, a 32-year-old former employee of an internet provider, now sells hats and umbrellas at metro stops. He lost his job after the war started and has not even received last month’s salary, he said.

Monireh Pishgahi sells jewelery and accessories on the capital’s famous Wali Asr Street. He said his tailoring business supplied to three online shops. As the business collapsed, he closed down the business and laid off five of his employees.

Mohammad Rihai, a shopkeeper in the city, said he has given up trying to convince street vendors to stop blocking the footpath outside his shop. “After the war, you see them on the sidewalk. I can’t fight them anymore.”