Iran’s shutdown of the internet, which activists fear masks a crackdown they say has killed hundreds, has now lasted more than three-and-a-half days, a monitor said Monday.
“As Iran wakes up to a new day, metrics show the national internet blackout is past the 84-hour mark,” monitor Netblocks said, saying that the blackout could be circumvented with shortwave radio, connecting to cell coverage at borders, Starlink, and satellite phones.
Iranians took to the streets in new protests Friday to press the biggest movement against the Islamic Republic in more than three years, as authorities sustained an internet blackout as part of a crackdown that has left dozens dead.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said it looked like Iran’s leaders were “in big trouble” and repeated an earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters are killed.
“It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago,” Trump said.
Protests have taken place across Iran for 13 days in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, with growing calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, which ousted the pro-Western shah.