Shock: Internet will be restored only if peace returns

Eleven members of parliament have warned the Minister of Interior for continuing the internet shutdown. A member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce says we do not know where our shipments are and what the transactions are like. A member of the Omid faction considered the continued internet shutdown to have security consequences.

Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a representative from Ardakan and a member of the Omid faction, has stated that the continued existence of the internet is not desirable and will have bad consequences. Referring to the disruption of many activities, including academic activities, he said: "On the other hand, when there is no conducive environment for healthy recreation in society, including musical or sports activities, the internet and social networks can fill many of these gaps, so deprivation from it can have psychological, spiritual, and even security consequences."

Describing the Internet as oxygen for society, Tabish has called for people to have access to cyberspace as soon as possible.

At the same time, Tayyeb Siavashi, a representative from Tehran, said: "The internet was supposed to be shut down for 24 hours, not 72 hours." She added that the Minister of Interior should be held accountable for the current disruption to people's lives and businesses.

Ms. Siavoshi announced the reminder of 11 members of parliament to the Minister of Interior in this regard and expressed hope that people's internet connections will be restored as soon as possible. Mostafa Kawakbian, Mahmoud Sadeghi, Hamideh Zarabadi, Fatemeh Saeedi, Fatemeh Hosseini, Alireza Mahjoub, and Mohammad Ali Vakili are among the members who signed the reminder.

Disruption in exports

Ali Kolahi, a member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, also told ILNA that the internet outage has dealt a severe blow to the country's international business image: "When a company cannot send a simple email to its counterpart, what guarantee is there for that company to work internationally because the foreign party thinks that a new restriction might be imposed tomorrow and the entire deal could be jeopardized."

He quoted the commercial director of the petrochemical company as saying: "We have had problems with exports and now we don't know where our cargo is? What is the status of the ships? If the internet is connected today and tomorrow, perhaps we can compensate for some of the damage that has been done internationally, but if this situation lasts long, it will definitely be too late."

Ali Kolahi said that after months of running around, they were able to open a bank account in a European country under sanctions: "But now the bank has been waiting for us to email the documents for 3 days, but we can't. When we told them that the internet was down, they were completely shocked."

Iranian media reports that the country's economy has suffered more than 2000 billion tomans in damages in recent days due to the destruction of public property, attacks on chain stores and gas stations, but the main sector that has been hit is cyberspace and businesses active in this space. The reports mention "hard days for startups" and the damage of 1500 billion tomans due to the restrictions on the Internet in Iran.

Lockdown of online businesses

The Minister of Communications said that some online businesses have seen a 90% decrease in transactions in recent days, and academics are also having trouble finding educational and research resources: "Yesterday, a woman called the ministry and said that she had spent 4,000 euros to take an exam in one of the countries, and now she needs access to email to follow up on the exam results, and the time, effort, and money she spent on this is being wasted."

In this context, Ali Rabiei, the government spokesman, on Wednesday, November 10, on the sidelines of a government meeting, attributed the decision on internet connectivity to the Supreme National Security Council: "There are considerations that, if observed, internet connectivity in the provinces will begin soon to address the concerns of those working in the internet."

The internet in Iran was cut off at 6:00 PM on Saturday, November 15, by a decision of the National Security Council (Shak), and the outage lasted longer than the claimed 24 hours. No official has announced a specific time for the internet to be reconnected, but there are whispers that the internet will be reconnected on Saturday.

Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications, has admitted that he does not have a "time estimate" for the internet to be reconnected, but he hopes that the connection will be made as soon as possible.

Mohammad Javad Kolivand, a member of the National Security Council, told ISNA that restoring the internet nationwide in Iran requires returning peace to the country: "The decision to cut off the internet was a collective decision, and the decision to restore it also depends on the collective decision and the situation in the country. A decision will definitely be made soon in this regard, considering reports received from different places."

Source: DW