According to the global monitor, Iran’s state-imposed near-total internet shutdown is the longest nationwide blackout on record, affecting jobs and businesses.

The 20-day internet shutdown was imposed in January in Iran during nationwide protests, due to the deaths of thousands. Limited services were only provided to offer some basic functions and allow access to state-run news and messaging services.

Longer intermittent internet blackouts have been conducted in Myanmar, Sudan, Kashmir, and Tigray, but none of these places has experienced a state-imposed shutdown on this scale for this long.

The global monitor further stated that none of the countries, even Ukraine and Gaza, have been known to “have shut down an entire country” like Iran.

Many online businesses in Iran have lost their operations due to such prolonged internet blackouts. In Iran, it has been said that the government has not explained how it plans to lead the country out of war through diplomatic efforts while also ensuring the smooth running of the internet.

Rampant inflation and a high unemployment rate, which existed even before the war, have further exacerbated the situation following the war, along with the devastation caused by the bombing of Iran’s top steel factories, petrochemical firms, and other civilian infrastructure.

A “guide to connect to the international internet for businesses” has been circulated among some business communities for those interested in obtaining internet connections for business purposes. For this, entities need to establish contact with an official account on a state-run messaging app called Bale to send documents and apply.

Mobile data packages have been depleting even more quickly than when the global internet was connected.