Iran considers restoring internet gradually after service shutdown during the recent riots in the country

Iranian authorities are considering restoring internet service gradually after widespread communications were blocked across the country more than a week ago, local media reported.

Meanwhile, the internet was started to operate in the Capital, Tehran, although the majority of internet and mobile internet providers remained unserviced.

International calls have been available since Tuesday and text messaging services resumed on Saturday morning.

The Iranian Tasnim news agency reported late on Saturday that the relevant authorities have announced the gradual restoration of internet service as well.

Citing an informed source, the Iranian news agency said local messaging apps would soon be operational on Iran’s domestic internet.

The unprecedented blocking of communications was imposed amid growing calls for anti-government demonstrations, and riots initially sparked by the country’s economic crisis.

Text messaging and international phone calls were cut off for days, and even local calls were sometimes interrupted.

Iran has since relied on its own internal network, which supports local media sites, transportation applications, delivery services, and banking platforms.

The protests, which began on December 28, are the biggest challenge facing Iran’s leadership, but the demonstrations appear to have subsided in recent days.

Iranian authorities haven’t released an exact death toll from the protests, but the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization (Iran Human Rights) reported that 3,428 people were killed by security forces, warning that the actual number could be many times higher.

Other estimates put the death toll at more than 5,000, possibly as high as 20,000, the organization said.

The opposition channel Iran International, which broadcasts from outside the country, reported that at least 12,000 people were killed during the protests, saying it was based on high-level government and security sources, however, the Iranian judiciary categorically rejected this figure.

Iranian officials said the demonstrations were peaceful before turning into riots that included vandalism of public property.

Authorities blamed external actors, specifically Iran’s two rivals, the United States and Israel.

On Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a few thousand people had been killed by what he described as agents of the two countries, whom he accused of inciting unrest.