Iran Lifts Months-Long Internet Shutdown, But Restrictions Remain

After months of digital darkness, Iranians got something back this week — the internet. But before you picture people freely scrolling Instagram and catching up on YouTube, pump the brakes. The situation is complicated, and a full return to normal is still a long way off.

Here's the backstory: Iran's government hit the kill switch on the internet back in late February, right after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on the country. Authorities justified the blackout as a military necessity. But for everyday Iranians — people just trying to talk to their kids abroad, run a small business, or even study for exams — the consequences were devastating.

Think about what it would mean for you to lose internet access for three-plus months. No WhatsApp, no Instagram, no Google, no work-from-home, no online banking. That was life for tens of millions of Iranians. Some people were so desperate for a connection that they literally crossed the border into Turkey just to make video calls and check messages, then drove back home.

The economic damage was staggering. According to NPR's reporting, the shutdown cost an estimated $30–40 million every single day, with indirect losses likely double that. About 10 million people have jobs that depend on internet access. One business owner told NPR that nearly 80% of the businesses he worked with were heading toward bankruptcy.

So what changed? A couple of things. Diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran appeared to be making progress toward a more lasting truce, and that seems to have given authorities political cover to ease up. On top of that, students needed to get online for end-of-year exams, and the private sector — already battered by the war — was screaming for relief. Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, backed the decision to loosen restrictions.

As of Wednesday, connectivity started coming back. Netblocks, a company that tracks internet activity globally, confirmed that Iran's connectivity climbed to around 86% of pre-shutdown capacity. But internet traffic — the actual amount of data people are using — was only at about 40%, suggesting a lot of people are still cautious or dealing with patchy service.

And here's the catch: it's not a clean return. Apps like Instagram and YouTube remain heavily restricted. Service is slow and spotty in some areas. The price of data has dropped — from about $7.50 per gigabyte during the blackout to roughly $2.25 for 30 gigabytes — but the underlying censorship infrastructure is still very much in place. Even before any of this started, Iran tightly controlled access to social media, with millions relying on VPNs (basically, tools that let you bypass government filters) to reach blocked sites.

Maybe most tellingly: many Iranians don't fully trust that the access will stick. One Tehran woman told NPR she couldn't believe authorities had even restored access — she'd assumed they'd find a reason to keep the blackout going. That kind of institutional skepticism doesn't go away overnight, and for good reason.