The people of Iran have been disconnected from the internet for more than 24 hours, after anti-government protests erupted across the country nearly two weeks ago.
The internet blackout started Thursday, according to reports, shortly after the heir to Iran’s last dynasty, Reza Pahlavi, called for Iranians to join in the protests. Georgia Institute of Technology’s internet outage analysis shows the country’s connectivity at less than 2%.
Alp Toker, the director of cybersecurity watchdog NetBlocks, believes the internet shutdown could precede a crackdown on the protesters.
“National blackouts tend to be the regime’s go-to strategy when deadly force is about to get used against protesters, with the goal being to prevent the spread of news of what’s happening on ground, and also to limit international scrutiny,” Toker told CNN.
The protests have spread to every Iranian province, in more than 100 cities and towns.
Iranian prosecution says protesters have ‘waged war against God’
Ali Salehi, Iran’s capitol public and revolutionary prosecutor, announced that the state will show “no leniency” to protesters engaged in arson, conflict with security forces or destruction of public property.
Anyone involved would be charged with “moharebeh,” which is an Islamic legal term meaning “waging war against God.” Under Iran’s Sharia law, the offense carries the death penalty.
“Our response will be deterrent, and their ruling is moharebeh,” Salehi said, per Iran International.
Pahlavi asks Trump to intervene
Pahlavi, who has been exiled from Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, called on President Donald Trump on Friday to “be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran.”
“Mr. President, this is an urgent and immediate call for your attention, support, and action,” he wrote on X. “Last night you saw the millions of brave Iranians in the streets facing down live bullets. Today, they are facing not just bullets but a total communications blackout. No Internet. No landlines.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “wants to use this blackout to murder these young heroes,” Pahlavi said.
Pahlavi referenced Trump’s previous Truth Social post from last Friday, which said, “If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
“I am asking you to help,” Pahlavi wrote. “You have proven and I know you are a man of peace and a man of your word.”
Iran tells Trump to ‘run his own country’
In a speech on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader said the protests in his country erupted “just to please the president of the United States,” and were the work of “a group of vandals.”
Trump “wants to side with the rioters and harmful individuals,” Khamenei said. “If he can, he should go and run his own country.”
Khamenei added that Trump’s hands were “stained with the blood” of Iranians killed in the country’s 12-day war with Israel last summer.
The New York Times reported that during his speech, a crowd of supporters chanted “Death to America.”