PARIS, France — Mahla, an interior designer in Tehran, says she has been forced to sell her valuables and gold to pay employees as Iran’s internet shutdown, imposed at the start of the Middle East war, tanks her business.

The internet blackout, which was put in place soon after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, was already the longest nationwide shutdown on record as of April 5, according to NetBlocks, which says it has now lasted more than 50 days.

Iran’s highly restricted local intranet has been working throughout the war, allowing people to connect to domestic websites, but it’s insufficient for normal businesses in a country already crippled by international sanctions.

Entrepreneurs like Mahla, 55, have been deprived of “proper access to artificial intelligence tools, Google or even emails,” she said.

During the war and since a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests in January, during which the internet was also shut down, “the situation has remained unstable,” said the woman, who now only has one employee.

The restrictions are taking a toll on business owners’ morale.

⏱️ The internet blackout in #Iran has now surpassed the 1200 hour mark, continuing in its eighth week as of day 51. As peace negotiations appear to flounder, one of the most important factors for Iranians, the restoration of international connectivity, is still overlooked. pic.twitter.com/PxfTospnGH Advertisement if(typeof rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner != "function" || !rgb_remove_toi_dfp_banner("#336x280_Middle_1")){ window.tude = window.tude || { cmd: [] }; tude.cmd.push(function() { if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("rgbmedia-app") > -1){ tude.setDeviceType("mobile"); } tude.refreshAdsViaDivMappings([ { divId: '336x280_Middle_1', baseDivId: '336x280_Middle_1', } ]); }); } — NetBlocks (@netblocks) April 19, 2026

⏱️ The internet blackout in #Iran has now surpassed the 1200 hour mark, continuing in its eighth week as of day 51.

As peace negotiations appear to flounder, one of the most important factors for Iranians, the restoration of international connectivity, is still overlooked. pic.twitter.com/PxfTospnGH

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) April 19, 2026

“Many people can no longer work. They feel exhausted, overwhelmed and hopeless,” she said, angry at those “taking advantage of the situation to sell fake VPNs and scam people.”

Even before the blackout, access in Iran was heavily filtered, with many social media platforms blocked, requiring the use of VPN software to bypass restrictions.

Mahdi, a 49-year-old accountant in Tehran, said the job situation that was already bad had only gotten worse.

“To find work, you need internet access, but it’s not working. And the job postings on websites aren’t being updated,” he said.

Key economic indicators are not always available in a country where all communication is tightly controlled.

But the internet shutdown has clearly “inflicted considerable damage on the digital economy,” the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said this week on X.

Iran’s Telecommunications Minister Sattar Hashemi estimated the losses at $35 million per day.

These figures were backed up by fact-checking website Fact Nameh, which published excerpts from an April 13 speech by Afshin Kolahi, head of IT and energy company Rahnama.

The chief executive estimated a direct impact of $30 to $40 million per day from the blackout.

“We are losing the equivalent of two medium-sized power plants per day, and it’s our fault,” he said.

Entrepreneurs abroad who have staff in Iran are also feeling the impact.

Maryam, 38, owner of a Paris-based online company that employs three people in Tehran, said her orders have fallen.

“In the last two months, we’ve only received 10 orders, just four of which came after the ceasefire,” she said, adding the business would usually get three or four orders a day.

“We have a .com website as well as Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and none of these services are easily accessible,” she added.

“I can’t even communicate with my employees because I don’t want to use Iranian internal applications for security reasons. I’ve practically lost contact with the people I work with since the first week of the war.”

From time to time, rumors circulate about a partial or even complete return of the internet.

But even after the wave of protests and the resulting violent crackdown in January, it was only partially restored before being completely cut off again with the outbreak of the war.

Hope is fading that the internet will be restored, even as diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran carry on.

Amir, 40, said he didn’t believe the internet would ever return to the country, his anger at the Islamic Republic’s leaders growing by the day.

“Even today, they announced that conditions were not favorable for restoring the connection,” he told AFP on Friday.

But “they never say it’s our right, only that (the outage) is bad for the economy!”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the Iran war right now? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:

Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock under difficult conditions to cover this conflict;

Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and emails; and

Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 Trump: Iran ‘got a little cute’ by blocking Hormuz again, but talks going ‘really well’

2 IDF reservist killed by Hezbollah explosive in Lebanon amid truce, 3 troops hurt

3 Anti-Israel group files formal complaint against released IDF soldier in Sri Lanka

4 Iran parliament speaker touts ‘progress’ in US talks, but Strait of Hormuz still shut

5 Macron, UNIFIL blame Hezbollah for killing of French peacekeeper in Lebanon

6 IDF confirms strikes on Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, in first since ceasefire

7 ‘Test tube orgy’: Israeli scientists use yeast to assess humans’ mating preferences

8 US envoy argues Israeli policy on Syria and Turkey strategically counterproductive

2026 US-Israel war with Iran

© The Times of Israel