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Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

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Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#11

Post by BariumBlue »

Apparently there have been IRGC and basij curfew patrols shooting at buildings / windows of people who sing or shout anti regime songs and slogans. Apparently they are also (at least in some cases) dressing as women to avoid airstrikes. There has been very little photage and info coming out of Iran though.

I still believe the Iranian government is more afraid of it's people than of the US and Israel - the US and Israel can bomb leadership and materiel, but without ground troops, regime capitulation is unlikely, unless the populace can themselves overthrow the govt (though that is hard to do when there is a major imbalance in who has guns).

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#12

Post by alephnerd »

reliabilityguy wrote: post #4

Is Iranian infra centralized on the similar fashion like in Belarus?

It's way more centralized.

Iran has been rolling out the National Information Network (essentially a whitelisted internet) since the Green Revolution [0] back in 2009-12. Iran has a surprisingly robust domestic ecosystem of hyperscalers [1] and telco infra [6][7] built out over the past decade with limited outside involvement and a severe sanctions regime, and have even started exporting Iranian IT services to Uganda [2], Kenya [3], South Africa [4], Venezuela [5], Russia [8], and China [8].

Iran also uses a two-tier SIM card system - ideologically vetted individuals get a "white" SIM which gives full ingress/egress outside the NIN and others have a normal SIM that can be blacklisted from egressing outside the NIN.

Notice how Iranian websites have a page saying "Transferring to Website" - that's the gateway page for the NIN.

[0] - https://citizenlab.ca/irans-national-information-network/

[1] - https://www.arvancloud.ir/fa

[2] - https://tvbrics.com/en/news/uganda-and-iran-to-boost-ict-co-...

[3] - https://mail.techreviewafrica.com/public/news/1361/kenya-and...

[4] - https://www.samenacouncil.org/samena_daily_news?news=64545

[5] - https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2025/08/06/752585/Iranian-fibe...

[6] - https://zmc.co.ir/

[7] - https://www.rayafiber.com/en/home

[8] - https://www.kharon.com/brief/iran-sanctions-maximum-pressure...

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#13

Post by gambutin »

alephnerd wrote: post #12
reliabilityguy wrote: post #4

Is Iranian infra centralized on the similar fashion like in Belarus?

It's way more centralized. Iran has been rolling out the National Information Network (essentially a whitelisted internet) since the Green Revolution [0] back in 2009-12. Iran has a surprisingly robust domestic ecosystem of hyperscalers [1] and telco infra [6][7] built out over the past decade with limited outside involvement and a severe sanctions regime, and have even started exporting Iranian IT services to Uganda…

Is there a reasonable workaround for this?

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#14

Post by alephnerd »

gambutin wrote: post #13
alephnerd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's way more centralized. Iran has been rolling out the National Information Network (essentially a whitelisted internet) since the Green Revolution [0] back in 2009-12. Iran has a surprisingly robust domestic ecosystem of hyperscalers [1] and telco infra [6][7] built out over the past decade with limited outside involvement and a severe sanctions regime, and have even started exporting Iranian IT services to Uganda…

Is there a reasonable workaround for this?

Starlink or any other sort of satellite internet, but these are relatively easy to jam and detect. There are ways to minimize that but obviously not available to civilians.

The issue is, if you control the Network DMZ, it's extremely difficult to bypass. In Xinjiang and Tibet (which has a similar setup) they used to use smuggled Kazakh, Nepali, and Indian SIM cards but that was cracked down.

A lot of the info from inside Iran that is not regime connected is coming from areas in Iranian Kurdistan where an Iraqi SIM could be smuggled or accessed somewhat easier than other areas.

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#15

Post by gambutin »

alephnerd wrote: post #14
gambutin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a reasonable workaround for this?

Starlink or any other sort of satellite internet, but these are relatively easy to jam and detect. There are ways to minimize that but obviously not available to civilians. The issue is, if you control the Network DMZ, it's extremely difficult to bypass. In Xinjiang and Tibet (which has a similar setup) they used to use smuggled Kazakh, Nepali, and Indian SIM cards but that was cracked down. A lot of the info from in…

That’s interesting. Could they somehow do peer-to-peer anonymously until the packages reach the border?

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#16

Post by traceroute66 »

Looking at it from an alternative angle, the Iranians are not stupid.

They know leaving the internet online would be beneficial for their adversaries, perhaps especially as Israel is one of them, and Israel's use of cyber is no secret.

So by killing the internet, they have an instant air-gap firewall.

Making the most of the levers they have fighting asymmetric warfare.

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#17

Post by traceroute66 »

gambutin wrote: post #6

Noteworthy: It’s not that no one in Iran has no access. Actually some have internet access via “white SIM cards” (1). Reportedly 50,000 or so. Essentially, they’ve created a two-tier system controlling who can access the internet. (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_SIM_Card

> Noteworthy: It’s not that no one in Iran has no access. Actually some have internet access via “white SIM cards”

Erm, dude, you did look at the graph on the Mastodon post linked to, right ?

You see that bit where it falls off a cliff to 0% netblocks ?

"white SIM card" or not, you're not getting internet if there's no BGP routes being announced.

The only way around 0 BGP announcements would be satellite...

I suspect your "white SIM card" was a pre-war status-quo ...

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#18

Post by jncfhnb »

BariumBlue wrote: post #11

Apparently there have been IRGC and basij curfew patrols shooting at buildings / windows of people who sing or shout anti regime songs and slogans. Apparently they are also (at least in some cases) dressing as women to avoid airstrikes. There has been very little photage and info coming out of Iran though. I still believe the Iranian government is more afraid of it's people than of the US and Israel - the US and Isra…

This is all likely true. Although I feel people undersell how they work together.

Iranians broadly hate their government, yeah. But the thing that gets them rioting is economic failure. Which the strikes have exacerbated.

Social media is swarmed by people saying it’ll be like Iraq and Iranians will hate the US for its actions. I’m not convinced. My small anecdata of Iranian friends with contacts in Iran agrees with me.

I think we could see regime change within a decade.

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#19

Post by jncfhnb »

traceroute66 wrote: post #16

Looking at it from an alternative angle, the Iranians are not stupid. They know leaving the internet online would be beneficial for their adversaries, perhaps especially as Israel is one of them, and Israel's use of cyber is no secret. So by killing the internet, they have an instant air-gap firewall. Making the most of the levers they have fighting asymmetric warfare.

It’s very economically harmful to be disconnected. That’s the downside

Re: Internet outage in Iran reaches 1,008 hours

#20

Post by traceroute66 »

jncfhnb wrote: post #19
traceroute66 wrote: post #16

Looking at it from an alternative angle, the Iranians are not stupid. They know leaving the internet online would be beneficial for their adversaries, perhaps especially as Israel is one of them, and Israel's use of cyber is no secret. So by killing the internet, they have an instant air-gap firewall. Making the most of the levers they have fighting asymmetric warfare.

It’s very economically harmful to be disconnected. That’s the downside

> It’s very economically harmful to be disconnected. That’s the downside

I mean, sure. But then being at war is also economically harmful. :)

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