Internet access was partially restored in Iran on 26 May after 88 days of complete blockage, according to data from NetBlocks monitoring service.
According to NetBlocks, the internet outage in Iran lasted more than 2,093 hours and was “the longest nationwide internet outage in modern history.”
The organisation also said it remains unclear whether the recovery will continue.
Earlier, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian’s government officials announced that they would begin the process of fully restoring internet access within the next 24 hours. However, an administrative court later announced a suspension of the decision of a government committee that ordered the restoration of internet access.
“As part of the government’s promises, the first step towards free and regulated access to virtual space has been taken,” Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref wrote in X shortly after NetBlocks was published.
Iranian media reported that users are once again able to access the “international internet” on their mobile phones, including services such as ChatGPT.
Iran maintains a two-tiered internet system: a domestic network limited to government-approved websites and services, and an international (global) internet that is often heavily filtered or shut down completely.
The blocking of the internet in Iran began on 28 February following the outbreak of war with Israel and the US. This internet shutdown was the longest in Iran’s modern history. Iranian authorities justified the internet shutdown by fighting foreign cyberattacks.