Iran's Internet blackout continues, despite a temporary resurgence, says a digital rights watchdog, as a state-aligned news agency claims the country's access to the Internet will be restored by tonight.
"Iran's Internet blackout continues into its third week, despite a brief momentary restoration," Netblocks, a digital rights watchdog and connectivity monitoring organization, said in a post on X on January 24.
"Online platforms are occasionally whitelisted, and some users have been able to tunnel out [using VPNs or other circumvention tools] over the last couple of days," it added.
The Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), on January 24 quoted the chief of Iran's telecoms company as saying Internet service would be restored in the coming hours -- an action, it added, that was approved by the Supreme National Security Council.
"God willing, this issue will be resolved today or tomorrow," Behzad Akbari, chief executive of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company, was quoted by Fars as saying.
Yusef Pezeshkian, a government adviser and son of President Masud Pezeshkian, called for the Internet to be brought back online.
"Keeping the Internet shut will create dissatisfaction and widen the gap between the people and the government," he wrote on Telegram.
Iran's near-total nationwide digital blackout -- ongoing since January 8 -- is thought to be one of the longest in history. Only Sudan's complete shutdown following its October 2021 coup, which lasted about 25 days, is known to have lasted longer.
Human rights groups say Tehran's move to cut access to the Internet was intended to conceal human rights violations by Iran's security forces.
Others add that the blackout has limited protesters’ ability to organize and resist, while severely restricting the flow of news and making independent verification of information difficult.
According to the US-based human rights organization HRANA, the number of fatalities in the recent protests has now risen to 5,137 confirmed deaths with more than 7,400 "severely injured."
As of January 24, HRANA said that the number of deaths still under investigation is 12,904.
On the same day, an umbrella body of independent teachers' unions in Iran published the names of at least 29 schoolchildren in a list of students it says were killed in the crackdown.
The council said it published the names and images of these children based on reports from trusted networks and reliable sources, and that the list will be updated gradually.
Previously, HRANA reported that they have managed to confirm the deaths of at least 54 minors.
Separately, Pramila Patten, UN special representative on sexual violence, expressed concerns about "disturbing" reports of sexual abuse in the context of political unrest in Iran.
"Such acts, whether committed in detention facilities, during arrest, or in the context of the intimidation of protesters, constitute grave violations of fundamental human rights and may amount to crimes under international law," she said.
Because of the Internet shutdown reports of possible sexual violence related to the protests are impossible to verify. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported that a number of detained persons were subjected to sexual abuse in Kermanshah.
Amnesty International in 2023 reported that "security forces in Iran used rape and other forms of sexual violence...to intimidate and punish peaceful protesters" during the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising.
On January 24, the US State Department's Persian-language account on X shared a video of President Donald Trump talking to reporters.
When asked if he thought Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- whom Trump had previously called responsible for widespread violence -- should step down or go into exile, Trump said "I don't want to get into that."
"But they know what we're looking for," he added. "There's a lot of killing going on."
He also warned the Islamic republic against seeking to set up other advanced nuclear facilities like those targeted by US strikes in Operation Midnight Hammer in June.
