Network Monitor

Despite Denial by Iranian Authorities, Weekly Internet Shutdowns Continue In Zahedan

While we are approaching the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, Sistan and Baluchistan still faces weekly internet outages while Iranian government officials continue to

Louis Shakibi

29 Aug 2023

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While we are approaching the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, Sistan and Baluchistan still faces weekly internet outages while Iranian government officials continue to avoid taking any responsibility for these disruptions. Overall during the month of July, internet disruptions affected several border cities and provinces including West Azerbaijan in the northwest of Iran to Khuzestan in the southwest, and from Razavi Khorasan in the northeast to Sistan and Baluchestan in the southeastern part of the country.

Map of July internet disruption in Iran. Source IODA
Map of July internet disruption in Iran. Source IODA

Coincidence: Internet Disruptions Coincide With Return Of The Morality Police

On July 15, IODA data showed a disruption on BGP which is an internet routing protocol and Active Probing, meaning there were routing issues that probably led to internet disruptions on a national scale. This also marked the day that Iran’s so-called morality police returned to the streets after laying low for many months following the tragic death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini.  Many Iranians believe that the internet disruptions on this day were intentional to suppress free speech.

Internet disruptions between July 15 and 16- Source: IODA
Internet disruptions between July 15 and 16- Source: IODA

Journalist Ehsan Mazandarani compared the situation with Ahmadinejad’s time. “The internet is rapidly returning to the era of Ahmadinejad”, he posted on Twitter.

Activist Mohammad Toopchi posted on Twitter: “They are openly and officially in a war with people over the internet”

Despite all online criticisms and protests, Iranian officials did not demonstrate any response or provide any comments regarding the nation-wide disruptions.

Friday Shutdowns in Sistan and Baluchistan

Fridays with no internet in Sistan and Baluchistan continued into July.

Internet disruptions between in Sistan and Baluchestan- Source: IODA
Internet disruptions between in Sistan and Baluchestan- Source: IODA

Other Remarkable Disruptions

  • Alborz province: According to IODA data, there have been routing issues since July 6 in Alborz province.
  • Zanjan province: IODA data showed a big dip on July 20 as well as July 21 on active probing, the same type of issue was observed on July 26 plus this time BGP was also disturbed which meant there was a routing issue.
  • Kurdistan: We observed that Kurdistan province lost half of its BGP routing on July 7 followed by active probing loss as well.
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