Iran imposes internet blackout after Israel, U.S. strikes on Tehran

Iran suffered an internet blackout on Saturday after Israel and the United States launched military strikes across the country, according to a global internet watchdog.

Just hours after the attacks, which officials said targeted infrastructure and killed dozens of senior regime officials at a compound in Tehran. NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker confirmed that connectivity was “starting to stagnate”.

“We are monitoring the ongoing disruption, but our assessment is that it comes straight out of Iran’s wartime playbook and is consistent both technically and strategically with what we saw during the 2025 Twelve-Day War with Israel,” Toker told Fox News Digital.

“Iran’s internet connection is currently stabilizing at around 1 percent, so the first blackout the regime imposed in the morning has been reinforced,” he confirmed.

“The lockdown was implemented shortly after the attack on the Iranian regime compound, just after 7:00 UTC,” Toker said. Toker said, adding that Iran was largely offline for about 12 hours following the attack.

“At 06:10 UTC there is a major composite strike; at 07:10 UTC the telecommunications outage begins; at 08:00 UTC the power outage is largely in effect; and at 08:30 UTC there are connectivity outages.”

“Wartime national power outages are extremely rare around the world and are something we’ve really only seen on this scale in Iran,” he said.

Following the attack, dubbed the epic Operation Rage, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the “heavy and precise” bombing in Iran “will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our goal of PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND OTHERWISE IN THE WORLD.”

He claimed that Iranian security forces and members of the regime’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had already sought immunity. He called on them to “peacefully unite with the Patriots of Iran.”

“We are hearing that most of the Revolutionary Guard, Army, and other Security and Police Forces no longer want to fight and are seeking immunity from us,” Trump said in his post. “Like I said last night, ‘Now they can get immunity; later they just get Death!'”

Toker argued that the timing of the blackout showed that it was implemented deliberately as the regime sought to secure communications out of fear of further targeting.

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TEHRAN, IRAN – FEBRUARY 28: Smoke rises in the city center after the Israeli army launched the second wave of air strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026. (Photo: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The Iranian regime will implement this new blackout to counter possible cyberattacks during its own military operations, as well as to prevent the locations of senior regime figures from being leaked through metadata and user-generated content,” he said.

“Communication would be limited, and Iran’s leadership would proceed with the assumption that all communication, including satellite or whitelisted networks, carried risk.” he said, and claimed that “at this point the paranoia is well-founded, and the power outage is a delayed but direct response to this.”

“Those directly involved already knew to avoid technology that could betray their location,” Toker said. he said.

“However, metadata may have played a role in determining whether the meeting of regime leaders was held in the Tehran compound, who attended the meeting and when.”

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In this proclamation visual provided by the Office of the Religious Leadership of Iran, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the nation during a state television broadcast in Tehran, Iran, on June 18, 2025. (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via Getty Images)

Toker explained that regime leaders and the broader network around the compound will not have the same strict restrictions.

“Such adjacent ‘background noise’ can be correlated with other intelligence sources to build an understanding of activity in the field,” he added.

“Smartphones are a readily available, almost ‘free’ source of intelligence, and even when locked, they eventually connect to international online services and produce information that can be used to locate regime figures,” Toker said. he said.

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“Following Saturday’s strike, this concern will be high on the minds of the remaining Iranian leaders, especially if they do not have a clear and specific understanding of how the meeting was compromised.”

Iran has previously implemented sweeping internet shutdowns during periods of unrest, including nationwide protests in January that left thousands dead, often to prevent the spread of information and restrict coordination.

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