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', } ]); }); } —........

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