Iran’s internet connectivity was currently running at “around 1% of ordinary levels,” monitor group Netblocks said on Thursday, leaving most Iranians struggling to access basic information, navigation tools or communication apps.
Those who had successfully connected using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to circumvent the controls had received warnings over their phones.
Calls from overseas to Iranian mobile phones or landlines were near-impossible, making the task of reporting on the conflict difficult for journalists who face tight controls while working in the country.
Inside Iran, simple tasks like checking in on relatives, driving with navigation tools such as Google Maps, or checking websites for information had become impossible.
Reading the news and comments are so weird about this. Both countries are the good and bad guy, both supress and liberate their people, both censor their internet, both arrest and kill innocent civilians - can you imagine if the US and Iran teamed up? We’d all be fucked
If there is a long US war or occupation, that would surely be a disaster for the Iranian people. But Iran already has many of the core mechanisms of democratic government. It’s not Afghanistan, it’s not even Iraq.
People vote for leadership. There has just been the “revolutionary” guard that operates the shadow government with the real power. The religious fundamentalist government has had the right to choose the candidates, but people really do vote from among those choices.
If the people can succeed in transferring military power to the elected government, then there is a real chance for permanent and stable change. The people are educated, the economy is sophisticated and diverse, and there are functioning institutions.