January 23, 2026

The Jerusalem Post – Internet service began to be restored in Iran on Friday, matching claims by Iranian officials earlier in the week.

Hossein Afshin, Iranian Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy, stated in an interview on Monday that the internet would be restored “from today to tomorrow and at the latest by the end of the week,” which in Iran is considered to be on Friday.

Early in the day, NetBlocks, a privately held global internet monitor, reported that the internet blackout in Iran remained in place, with only slight increases in overall connectivity.

US-based Iranian rights group HRANA cited NetBlocks’ report, adding that official Iranian authorities, including the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, had backpedaled on Afshin’s promise on Monday, saying that there was no concrete timeline for internet restoration, and that it would be conducted in a “gradual, localized, and issue-based” manner.

“The twenty-sixth day of the protests passed with communications disruption continuing not merely as a temporary measure, but as a structural component of the authorities’ security strategy for managing the crisis,” HRANA stated, “a strategy whose consequences include an intensification of the information vacuum, the spread of rumors, and a deepening divide between the official narrative and the lived experiences of citizens.”

However, later on Friday, NetBlocks confirmed that messenger apps were becoming more widely available in Iran. It also cautioned that internet services appeared to be heavily filtered, and that observable international connectivity remained low.

HRANA releases letter for UN Human Rights Council

HRANA also released a letter on Friday, targeted at member states of the UN Human Rights Council, in preparation for an emergency session on Iran taking place later that day.

In the letter, HRANA details the verified fatalities (4,622) that have taken place during the Iranian protests, as well as the documented uses of excessive force by IRGC ground forces and Basij units.

It states that there have been 7,389 serious injuries documented, that 26,541 arrests have been made, including 173 minors under the age of 18, and that there have been more than 181 forced confessions broadcast on state television or media.

The organization stresses that these numbers “represent absolute minimums.”

The letter concludes with HRANA urging member states to reinforce accountability, enhance cooperation on information-sharing, and support both international and national investigative and accountability mechanisms.