IRANIANS are again experiencing internet disruptions amid ongoing protests across the country as state authorities warn against foreign sabotage and organise demonstrations.
Internet users have since Thursday reported sporadic disruptions to home and mobile connections, with data from the US-based global internet infrastructure and cybersecurity company Cloudflare on Saturday showing an average 35 percent lower traffic volume in Iran compared with previous days.
Iranian authorities have shut down or slowed connectivity levels during previous rounds of protests, limiting Iranians to only a localised intranet. Internet connectivity came to a near-complete halt in mid-June for several days during the height of the war with Israel and the United States.
The government has not specifically commented on the latest slowdown in the context of the protests, but Minister of Information and Communications Technology Sattar Hashemi told reporters that Iran had fended off one of the largest cyberattacks in recent memory on Sunday, which could have contributed to limited internet bandwidth.
The protests that started last Sunday among traders and salesmen in downtown Tehran have since spread to cities across the country. At least 10 people have been killed during the demonstrations.
Among those killed was a young business owner in the city of Hamedan in western Iran, which has seen several days of intense protests and the deployment of security forces.
Hamzeh Amraei, the regional governor’s political and security deputy, told state media on Saturday that the man’s death was “suspicious” and was carried out by “enemies” to portray Iranian authorities in a negative way in the media.
Morteza Heydari, the top security official in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, confirmed on Saturday that a 17-year-old boy was shot dead. He claimed that “hostile elements” were behind the incident, without elaborating. The official said that another person “linked with terrorist movements” died after a grenade exploded in his hands.
State media reported on Saturday that a “veteran member” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed by armed and masked men in Malekshahi, in the central province of Ilam. The semiofficial Fars news agency said that at least three people were killed in the city.
Multiple protests have been confirmed by state authorities and local reports over the past several days in the province of Lorestan in the western part of the country. The provincial branch of the IRGC said in a statement on Saturday that “three major leaders of the recent riots” in the city of Khorramabad were arrested, without naming the individuals.
State television has also aired alleged confessions of Iranian men with blindfolds or blurred out faces, who claimed that they were armed or in contact with foreign agents to create instability in Iran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an address on Saturday, blamed foreign influence and said that “rioters must be put in their place”.
The comments came after US and Iranian officials exchanged barbs, after US President Donald Trump said he would “come to the rescue” of Iranian protesters if they were killed.
“They are unashamedly dropping the bombs on women and children and committing genocide, but they tell us we must not hurt anyone,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a speech on Saturday afternoon, in reference to US backing for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, where the US has brokered a tenuous ceasefire.