Iran partially restores internet after record 2,093-hour blackout

Iran partially restored access to the global internet Tuesday after a 2,093-hour nationwide blackout — the longest such shutdown in modern history, according to internet watchdog Netblocks and traffic data from Cloudflare.

The shutdown, imposed Feb. 28 as war broke out involving Israel and the United States, cut Iran's population off from the international internet for nearly three months — highlighting how governments can use digital infrastructure as a wartime instrument and drawing fresh alarm from digital rights advocates worldwide.

For 87 days, Iranians were confined to a government-controlled "national internet" — a curated network of state-authorized websites that severed access to international platforms, foreign news and global communications. According to Netblocks, no nationwide internet shutdown in recorded history has lasted as long.

President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the blockade lifted Monday, May 26. Netblocks and Cloudflare both recorded increases in Iranian web traffic Tuesday, confirming a partial restoration of international connectivity, according to both organizations.

Iranian media reported that full internet access could be restored as early as June 5, though no official government timeline has been issued. Monitoring organizations cautioned that the permanence of the partial restoration remains uncertain.

The blockade had significant economic and social consequences for Iranians, isolating businesses from international markets and cutting off families from communication tools unavailable on the state-run network.

Even before the blackout, Iran maintained one of the world's most restrictive internet environments, with dozens of international social media platforms, news sites and messaging apps blocked under peacetime conditions, according to digital rights groups.

The 2,093-hour shutdown stands as an extreme escalation of the information controls Iran has long maintained, and the government's demonstrated ability to impose — and then lift — a near-total blackout raises lasting questions about the future of digital access in wartime conflicts worldwide.