Iran without Internet: Authorities justify blocking by 'Israeli military objectives'
Iran continues to experience a massive internet shutdown.
This was reported by the organization NetBlocks, which monitors Internet freedom around the world.
“According to the data, Iran has been without internet access for more than 12 hours, as the authorities have imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, citing possible Israeli abuse of the network for military purposes,” the resource's representatives reported.
It should be added that the shutdown seriously complicates Iranians' access to information at a time of rising tensions in the region. The restrictions affect both mobile Internet and leading networks.
According to AP, Iranian state television has called on citizens to delete the WhatsApp messenger from their phones, accusing it of transmitting data to Israel.
Meta, however, denied the allegations. Other reports indicate that Telegram, another popular messaging app in Iran, has also been blocked, the AP reported.
It should be noted that a large-scale internet shutdown in most regions of Iran began on June 18 at 17:30 local time. As is known, traffic was reduced to approximately 3% of standard consumption.
In addition, on Wednesday, June 18, Iranian state television was interrupted, and instead of its usual program, it showed footage of street protests with calls to continue the demonstrations.
According to Israeli journalist Amih Stein, the Iranian broadcaster's satellite signal was intercepted and footage from protests taking place on the country's streets was broadcast.
Israel-Iran conflict
Let us recall that on the night of June 13 , Israel launched an attack on Iran. It is known that the Israel Defense Forces has launched a preemptive combined offensive to strike at Tehran's nuclear program and in response to the Iranian regime's ongoing aggression against Israel.
The Israeli strike on Iran killed several Iranian officials, including the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian General Hossein Salami.
In total, during the operation, Israel carried out about 250 strikes on 720 targets in Iran.
On the morning of June 19, Israel attacked Iran's Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor . The nuclear facility is located approximately 250 km southwest of Tehran.
