“Internet outages have become a new grievance in themselves.”
The spokesman for the parliamentary technology faction says that the lack of access to the Internet is causing irritation and stress and has become a new dissatisfaction. An official in the supply of petroleum products also reports the problems of station owners in purchasing fuel online.
The spokesperson for the Ecosystem, Innovation and Technology faction of the parliament announced the faction's proposal to the Supreme National Security Council to normalize the internet in some peaceful provinces of Iran. Hamideh Zarabadi said: "With the normalization of the internet, the message of the peaceful space will be conveyed to society."
The Khaneh Mellat news agency quoted a representative from Qazvin, Abeek, and Alborz as saying, "Internet disruptions today have become a new dissatisfaction among the people." He added that internet outages exist even in areas where there are no problems, and many businesses in cyberspace have closed due to the internet outage, which is causing people's dissatisfaction.
Zarabadi said that the lack of access to the internet creates tension and stress, and gives the feeling that the country is in chaos. Regarding the national internet, he also said that if people were to use it, the necessary capacity building should have been done and the necessary preparations should have been given to the people.
At the same time, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications, said that the domestic internet is meaningless and is a “caricatured and very wrong phrase.” He emphasized that since Sunday, November 16, follow-ups have been carried out so that, once the situation normalizes, the National Security Council will issue the necessary permission to restore the internet: “The internet shutdown has caused a great deal of damage to services and people, but maintaining the security of the country is very important… I spoke this morning with various groups involved in this issue, such as the Ministry of Interior, so that the internet can be connected more quickly.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Petroleum Products Supply Chain Companies Association has announced that the internet outage has caused problems for gas station owners in purchasing fuel. Nasser Raisifard also said that some people have gone to the stations and are not paying in protest, even though the money belongs to the station workers.
Government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced in a weekly meeting on Monday, November 17, that the government is trying to restore internet connectivity to normal within today and tomorrow. Rabiei added that there are no problems with the banking system and online taxis. This is while internet banking services have been suspended and customers’ attempts to access the service are met with the message “no access”.
The internet in Iran was cut off at 6:00 PM on Saturday, November 15, after protests against the high price of gasoline became widespread. The National Security Council announced that the outage would last 24 hours, but 50 hours later, users are still unable to connect to the internet.
Source: DW
