NetBlocks reported a nationwide internet blackout in Iran on January 8 2026 as protests triggered by a severe economic crisis entered a second week with demonstrations reported in multiple cities including Tehran. The monitoring group linked the outage to a series of escalating digital censorship measures aimed at the protests which it said hindered the public’s right to communicate at a critical time according to an Al Jazeera report. At least 21 people including security forces have died since the unrest began in late December according to an AFP tally that drew on local media and official statements.
NetBlocks stated in a social media post that the apparent blackout followed digital restrictions targeting protests across the country. Cloudflare’s analysis showed Iranian internet traffic dropping to effectively zero around 1845 UTC on that date confirming the scale of the disruption. Such measures align with Iran’s history of internet shutdowns during periods of civil unrest including a near-total blackout in 2019 that Amnesty International said lasted several days and coincided with the deaths of more than 300 protesters.
Protests erupted in late December 2025 after the Iranian rial plummeted to record lows of approximately 1.4 million to the US dollar according to multiple economic reports that tracked the currency’s loss of more than half its value over the prior year. The Statistical Center of Iran recorded point-to-point inflation at 60 percent in January 2026 with food prices rising even faster at an annual rate of 72 percent in December. These pressures eroded purchasing power for working and lower-middle class households prompting initial actions by bazaar merchants and shopkeepers that quickly broadened into wider demonstrations.
Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi reporting from Tehran described thousands taking to the streets from about 8pm local time on January 7 with many more neighbourhoods involved than in prior days. “What we saw was many more neighbourhoods in the Iranian capital coming to the streets” Asadi said. “Several streets were blocked while I was driving from downtown. We heard chants and slogans against the political establishment. We know that the economic squeeze has eroded public confidence and fuelled dissatisfaction particularly when it comes to working and lower middle classes who are now finding themselves struggling to meet their everyday needs.”
Iranian officials offered conflicting signals on the handling of the demonstrations. President Masoud Pezeshkian called for utmost restraint while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said rioters must be put in their place according to the Al Jazeera coverage. Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei stated “If anyone comes into the streets for riots or to create insecurity or supports them then no excuse remains for them” and added “The matter has become very clear and transparent. They are now operating in line with the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged prevention of further casualties and respect for protest rights through his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. “He also calls on the authorities to uphold the right of freedom of expression association and peaceful assembly” Dujarric said during a briefing. “All individuals must be allowed to protest peacefully and express their grievances.”
The current wave of protests echoes the mass demonstrations of 2022 and 2023 that followed the death in custody of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating strict dress code rules Al Jazeera noted. Rights monitors have raised fresh concerns about security forces raiding hospitals to detain wounded protesters. Amnesty International reported that forces entered Imam Khomeini Hospital in the western city of Ilam firing tear gas smashing doors and assaulting people inside including medical workers and the group demanded an immediate end to such tactics.
