# 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: 2026-05-26 · heads: 何が壊れたか, 誰が決めるのか · 8 takes · 1 lenses · 5 regions

## Summary

[Masoud Pezeshkian](/ja/entity/masoud-pezeshkian) ordered the Communications Ministry on 25 May to restore [Iran](/ja/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](/ja/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](/ja/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/ja/n/pezeshkian-internet-restoration