Iran’s deepening internet crisis now threatens to push millions further into digital isolation, as the clerical dictatorship—already notorious for restricting online access to curb free information—seeks to impose steep new charges on basic connectivity. Irancell, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, warned that without a 70 percent tariff increase, Iran may soon face daily internet blackouts lasting up to three hours, crippling businesses and livelihoods dependent on online transactions.
Alireza Rafiei, CEO of Irancell, said on August 17, 2025, that the company has formally requested tariff hikes: “If tariffs are not adjusted, operators will lack the capacity to invest, and improving internet quality will be impossible. We must expect that, just as we have daily power cuts, there will be three-hour internet blackouts each day.”
Costs for electricity and imported equipment have soared, while prices for services remain unchanged. “Electricity costs have multiplied in recent years, and equipment—entirely dependent on foreign currency—rose by about 40 percent in just the past year,” Rafiei told reporters. Frequent power cuts, he added, prevent the recharging of batteries at network sites, meaning some facilities are effectively shut down around the clock.
#Iran’s Digital Apartheid: Regime Loyalists Flood the #Internet While the Rest of the Nation Goes Darkhttps://t.co/qFQw7Bi9wc
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 20, 2025
The crisis comes as the Internet and Infrastructure Commission of Tehran’s E-Commerce Association ranked Iran 97th of 100 countries for quality, citing its instability, censorship, and slow speeds. Even the communications ministry has admitted service is “bad,” blaming war disruptions and so-called “security decisions.”
For ordinary Iranians, the consequences go far beyond inconvenience. In a country where online platforms sustain commerce, education, and communication, the regime’s pricing squeeze—combined with its censorship and surveillance policies—threatens to sever millions from the global economy. What Irancell presents as a technical and financial issue, many see as yet another tool for the clerical dictatorship to tighten its grip and deprive society of free, reliable access to information.