Iran experiences country-wide internet disruption, watchdog group says

Iranian officials said the disruption was due to difficulties being experienced by one of the internet providers in the country.

APRIL 8, 2024 15:55

Updated: APRIL 8, 2024 17:29

An employee of a stock brokerage firm monitors stock prices on his computer, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a brokerage house in Tehran, Iran, May 12, 2020. (photo credit: ALI KHARA/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/VIA REUTERS) — An employee of a stock brokerage firm monitors stock prices on his computer, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a brokerage house in Tehran, Iran, May 12, 2020.

(photo credit: ALI KHARA/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY)/VIA REUTERS)

A "moderate disruption" was recorded in internet connectivity in Iran on Monday, according to the NetBlocks internet watchdog.

The head of Iran's Communications Regulatory Authority, Amir Lajevardi, stated that one of the internet providers in Iran was experiencing difficulties on Monday and needed to inform and compensate users.

ℹ️ Confirmed: Metrics show a moderate disruption to internet connectivity in #Iran affecting multiple networks from early this morning; analysis of the incident is ongoing pic.twitter.com/zyLF3D4a12
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) April 8, 2024

Lajevardi added, "Despite the increased level of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in the last week, the country's communication network is stable."

The incident comes as tensions rise in the region, with Iran threatening to respond after several senior IRGC commanders were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus last week.

A smartphone with a displayed Iranian flag with the word ''Cyberattack'' and binary codes over it is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken February 23, 2023. (credit: DADO RUVIC/REUTERS)

Past Iranian internet outages

Internet outages are reported periodically in Iran, occasionally due to infrastructure issues but sometimes also due to cyber attacks or restrictions implemented by the Islamic regime.

Iran has worked to isolate its internet network over the years, both to protect against cyberattacks and to prevent Iranians from freely accessing content from around the world.