Iran’s complete internet blackout is costing the already economically crippled country as much as $37 million a day, according to an analysis.
NetBlocks, an internet monitoring group analyzing the effects of the blanket shutdown, warned of the staggering cost as Iranians reel from the aftermath of deadly anti-regime protests and disturbing reports that some demonstrators have been jailed or burned to death.
Ehsan Chitsaz, a deputy minister of communications and information technology, put the cost at $2.8 million to $4.3 million each day since the internet shutdown began on Jan. 8.
Iran’s ailing economy is losing millions of dollars a day amid a nationwide internet shutdown, which shows no sign of letting up. AFP via Getty ImagesThe Islamic Republic launched a nationwide communications shutdown as a means to suppress the anti-government protests that broke out across the country in response to surging cost of living and the Iranian rial crashing to over 1.4 million to the US dollar.
The low value of the rial pushed up inflation and increased the cost of everyday goods and necessities in the country.
The economic woes were then compounded by changes in gasoline prices, leading to public outrage against the regime that resulted in the mass protests starting on Dec. 28.
Protests erupted across Iran against the government’s failure to fix the economy in the face of high inflation and plummeting rial value. APIn the face of such widespread dissent, the regime shut off access to the internet, a tactic that leaves a major blow on the national economy.
There’s no word on when the internet will be back up.
During the last widespread protests in 2022 over the murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody, the internet outage ended up costing Iran $1.6 billion, according to Dara Conduit, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia who studied the event.
Business owners in Tehran say they’ve seen a massive drop in sales since the protests and subsequent crackdown. AFP via Getty ImagesBusinesses in Tehran said they were already feeling the blow of the internet outage, with one pet shop owner saying business has already dropped by 90%.
Without access to the internet, the business owner, who spoke under anonymity for fear of reprisal, said she lost a valuable tool to sell and promote her products.
“Those who pass by our shops don’t show any appetite for shopping,” the owner of an upscale tailor shop in Tehran added. “We are just paying our regular expenses, electricity and staff … but in return, we don’t have anything.”
With Post wires
