# Pezeshkian ends Iran's ~4-month internet blackout — and the IRGC pushes back
> The president orders international access restored after one of the longest shutdowns on record; hardline outlets say he had no authority, exposing the rift inside the system

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-24 · heads: Ce qui a cassé, Qui décide · 8 takes · 1 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

[Masoud Pezeshkian](/fr/entity/masoud-pezeshkian) ordered the Communications Ministry on 25 May to restore [Iran](/fr/entity/iran)'s
international internet to its pre-January state, with partial restoration the next day — slow
and still filtered. The blackout had run from 8 January, near-total for months in one of the
longest nationwide disruptions on record, with daily losses estimated at $70-80m and
cumulative costs near $1.8bn by mid-April; online sales fell about 80%. The order ran
through a special headquarters under First Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Aref, which voted 9
to 3 in favour. IRGC-affiliated Fars News challenged the president's authority, arguing the
shutdown was a Supreme National Security Council decision only that body could reverse.
Social media — X, Telegram, Instagram, WhatsApp — stayed largely blocked. The episode
exposes the rift between the elected government and the security organs as [Mojtaba
Khamenei](/fr/n/iran-mojtaba-succession) consolidates as supreme leader.

## By the numbers

- ~4.5 months — blackout from 8 Jan to the 26 May partial restoration.
- ~$70-80m/day — estimated total daily cost; ~$1.8bn cumulative by mid-April.
- ~80% — fall in online sales during the shutdown.
- 9-3 — vote in Aref's special headquarters to restore access.

## Why it matters

Whether a president can switch the internet back on is a test of who actually governs Iran.
Pezeshkian reasserting the elected government's writ — and hardliners disputing it — maps
the post-war power struggle between the reformist administration and the IRGC-security bloc.

## What to watch

- Whether social-media platforms are unblocked or stay restricted.
- How far the IRGC pushes its claim that only the security council can decide.
- Renewed shutdown threats during summer unrest over [water and power](/fr/n/iran-water-power-crisis).

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### unlabelled
- **Iran International** (United Kingdom, fa) — Diaspora outlet centres the faction war: IRGC-affiliated Fars News questioning Pezeshkian's authority to lift the blackout, arguing it was a Supreme National Security Council decision reversible only by that body — the rift inside the state laid bare.
  > "Hardliners question whether Pezeshkian had the authority to order the internet restored."
  Source: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605271653
- **Amwaj.media** (United Kingdom, en) — Reads the order as a deliberate move by Pezeshkian to project authority over the security organs — an institutional-power lens that treats the restoration as a bid to reassert the elected government's writ.
  > "Iran restores internet access as Pezeshkian moves to project authority over the security apparatus."
  Source: https://amwaj.media/en/media-monitor/iran-restores-internet-access-as-pezeshkian-moves-to-project-authority
- **CNN** (United States, en) — Centres ordinary Iranians coming back online with skepticism and defiance after months offline — the citizen lens on a restoration that left social media still largely blocked.
  > "Iranians emerge online with skepticism and defiance after months of blackout."
  Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/26/middleeast/iranians-emerge-online-with-skepticism-defiance-after-months-of-blackout-intl-latam
- **Iran International (restore)** (United Kingdom, en) — 
  Source: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605251140
- **The Hill** (United States, en) — 
  Source: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5896061-internet-access-restored-iran/
- **Business Standard** (India, en) — 
  Source: https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/iranian-president-masoud-pezeshkian-orders-restoration-of-internet-access-126052600062_1.html
- **All Israel News** (Israel, en) — 
  Source: https://allisraelnews.com/brief/irans-internet-connection-slowly-returns-after-president-pezeshkians-orders
- **Wikipedia (2026 blackout)** (Global, en) — 
  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran

## Across the graph
- Related: [[pezeshkian-domestic-position]], [[iran-mojtaba-succession]], [[iran-water-power-crisis]]
- Entities: Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/fr/n/pezeshkian-internet-restoration