ISTANBUL
Internet connectivity in Iran, already hovering around 1% of normal levels amid the war with the US and Israel, collapsed on the 16th day of the nationwide blackout, global internet watchdog NetBlocks said on Sunday.
In a post shared on US social media company X, Netblocks said that internet outages in Iran have now lasted more than 360 hours.
The watchdog said the portion of connectivity that had continued to operate at roughly 1% of normal levels has now also gone offline.
“Metrics indicate a collapse in connectivity on AS12880, a key #Iran telecoms network that had so far remained partly online as part of the ~1% reserved state infrastructure,” it said.
It added that the situation appears to confirm reports of internal network instability in Iran's National Information Network (NIN).
News flow from Iran halted
News updates from Iranian media outlets’ websites and social media platforms have largely stopped, with only occasional posts on Telegram by a few semi-official news agencies.
A limited number of senior officials and institutions, including Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, and the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, have continued to share some posts on social media.
Iranian authorities have not yet issued an official statement regarding the internet disruption in the country.
Tensions have flared since Israel and the US launched joint attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,200 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries, which it says are targeting “US military assets.”
Iran also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz around March 1. The strategic waterway normally handles about 20 million barrels of oil shipments daily and roughly 20% of the global liquefied natural gas trade.