The internet was down on Thursday evening in the Iranian capital Tehran and large parts of the country. Various international media wrote this after observers of the group NetBlocks the blackout were the first to report. Also NRC spoke to some Iranians abroad who could not reach their families in Iran on Thursday evening.
Protests have been going on in Iran since December 28. These started as a demonstration by shopkeepers in Tehran against hyperinflation in the country and grew into a nationwide wave of protests with open calls for the fall of the theocratic regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. On Thursday, the protests reached all of Iran’s 31 provinces, writes The Guardian.
The regime has been trying to suppress the protests for days, killing people in the process, according to a Norway-based human rights group at least 45 Iranians. Many hundreds of demonstrators were probably arrested. The cause of Thursday evening’s internet disruption has not yet been determined, but the Iranian regime has shut down the internet many times in the past to suppress uprisings.
6 euros per month
To ease dissatisfaction with the economic malaise in the country, the Iranian regime previously agreed to pay citizens around 6 euros per month, a substantial amount in the country where the average salary is around 170 euros per month. Although that contribution is also becoming less valuable every day due to high inflation.
The regime in Tehran is not only under enormous pressure from within. US President Donald Trump has frequently threatened to intervene in the country in recent days if the regime kills more demonstrators. After the American intervention in Venezuela, this is a threat that is being taken seriously in Tehran.
Anonymous government sources told Reuters that Iranian leaders fear “they will become the next victim of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy.” Moreover, the regime is currently already in a weak position, because many generals and commanders were killed last June during the Twelve Day War with Israel.
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