How did Iran shut down the internet? And how did Iranians manage to transmit information then?
In recent days, Iran has done what it had been preparing for years: almost completely shut down the internet, orchestrating one of the deepest and most technologically complex blackouts in history. Even under such conditions, activists and ordinary Iranians are finding ways for information to still leak out. The Financial Times provides the details.
Protesters set fire to a photograph of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei near the Iranian Embassy building in London, January 12, 2026. Photo: AP Photo/Alastair Grant
For almost ten years, Iran developed the National Information Network (NIN) — a parallel version of the internet, popularly dubbed «halal.» The goal was simple: in times of unrest, disconnect the country from the outside world while maintaining the functionality of the government and economy within the country.
However, in November 2019, the then Minister of Communications, Mohammad Jahromi, was shocked: protesters were coordinating through a chat in a regular, regime-approved video game. This fiasco led to a radicalization of tactics: if the «halal» internet doesn't work, then next time it will have to be completely shut down.
The «next time» happened last Thursday, January 8. Experts studying digital repression called the shutdown one of the deepest and most complex in history.
The blockade was so total that it decapitated even state structures. In the initial phase, everything was cut off: banks, ATMs, payment systems at gas stations, and government news websites. Even owners of privileged «white» SIM cards, who had access to the network during Iran's military conflict with Israel in 2025, found themselves in an information vacuum this time.
This is what the internet shutdown in Iran looked like on January 8, 2026. Photo: NetBlocks
Researchers from Project Ainita explain that such ease of shutdown was embedded in the design of the Iranian network as early as the 1990s. At that time, Iran's only digital communication channel with the outside world was a small elementary particle physics laboratory at the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences. Later, the authorities allowed another additional channel to the global internet through the «Telecommunication Infrastructure Company.» Compared to other densely populated countries that have hundreds of access points, this creates ideal conditions for state censorship.
As the authors note, the abrupt shutdown gave the government the opportunity to then reconnect parts of NIN, maintaining strict control over news and gradually restoring the functionality of parts of the economy.
According to information from residents of the country, the banking system's operations have mostly been restored, though with limitations on how much cash individuals can withdraw. Gas stations are also processing payments, and some government services are being restored.
In the opinion of expert Hesam Nowrouz Pour, who advised the Iranian government at the start of NIN's creation in the early 2010s, from a policy perspective, the authorities have achieved what they wanted — parts of the National Information Network are working again, and the country is still almost completely cut off from the global internet.
Ways to circumvent
Under such conditions, one of the key channels for transmitting information became Starlink satellite communication. As FT notes, the use of these terminals in the country became possible after the Joe Biden administration introduced sanctions relief in 2022, allowing American technology companies to transfer communication tools to Iran. Soon after, Elon Musk activated access to SpaceX's Starlink satellite network for the country.
This decision spawned an entire smuggling network. Starlink terminals began to be secretly imported across borders with Armenia and Iraqi Kurdistan. Initially, the devices reached human rights activists, but then a black market emerged, and thousands of devices were smuggled into the country for ordinary Iranians to watch Netflix, post on Instagram, and trade cryptocurrency. However, terminal owners are now forced to hide antennas from drones and informant neighbors.
Last Tuesday, SpaceX announced that it had made Starlink access in Iran free. However, in recent days, groups using this connection to bypass the blackout have reported disruptions. This could be the result of military-grade electronic warfare countermeasures, which Russia uses in the war with Ukraine.
In parallel, as the author notes, other people — many of them emigrants from the Iranian cybersecurity and telecommunications entrepreneurial sector — created or adapted software to overcome state blockades.
One messaging service «parasites» on the most primitive internet infrastructure that the regime left operational, turning a small government-approved email network into a means of communication with the outside world. A simple text browser service also allows circumvention of the blockade.
According to experts, the key danger is not just the shutdown itself, but how the internet will look when it returns. Iran has become much more adept at implementing shutdowns.