By Kayhan Life Staff
Iran’s connection to the global internet, which was severed on Feb. 28 at the onset of the U.S.-Israel war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been progressively restored in recent days after a three-month nationwide shutdown. Yet communications experts say service quality remains extremely poor: Users lack access to the heavily filtered service available before the blackout, let alone access to unrestricted internet connectivity.
As a result, a large number of Iranian citizens remain effectively isolated from the wider digital world.
Some Iranians have dubbed the country’s internet “Filternet,” arguing that, despite official claims of restored connectivity, users still rely on VPNs to access the broader internet. Many users report that attempts to connect to the global internet through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have failed, leaving them unable to access blocked services.
Experts cite disruptions to core internet protocols, persistent data center problems, and failures in notification systems as major factors affecting both users and businesses.
According to technical specialists, severe disruptions persist in fundamental internet protocols.
Restrictions on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) have caused widespread instability in online services, disrupted voice and video communications, and led to frequent failures of VPNs and IP-masking tools.
The data center crisis also continues.
Repeated interruptions between Iranian data centers and the global network have reportedly inflicted significant damage on the country’s technology sector, its freelance workforce, and the broader digital economy.
Another major concern is the failure of notification systems.
The continued blocking of Firebase, Google’s mobile and web application development platform, has effectively halted notification delivery for many online services and applications.
Many analysts believe that these disruptions are deliberate.
Network experts argue that the restrictions extend beyond the typical technical difficulties associated with restoring connectivity after a shutdown and appear designed to turn off free VPN services and further complicate access to international internet traffic.
NetBlocks, an independent organization that monitors internet connectivity worldwide, has reported that Iran remains subject to extensive internet filtering.
Although the process of restoring internet access began on May 26, NetBlocks says conditions have yet to return to pre-January 8 levels.
In a statement, NetBlocks noted: “Three months ago today Iran shut off access to the global internet. While connectivity has now largely returned, metrics indicate that users still face heavy filtering, similar to the interim period between the January protests and the start of the war.”
Comments on social media also suggest that internet conditions remain far from normal. Some VPN services that functioned before Feb. 28 are still unable to connect.
Data from Cloudflare further indicates that IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) has not yet been restored.
The technology news website SITNA reported that network analysis data shows Iran has experienced one of the steepest declines in IPv6 usage in recent months. While IPv6 accounted for more than 12 percent of the country’s internet traffic during the first half of January, that share steadily declined and now stands at roughly 0.1 percent following the restoration of internet access, effectively removing IPv6 from everyday internet traffic.
According to the report, recent monitoring continues to show no meaningful recovery in IPv6. As a result, most traffic has shifted back to IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) even though Iran’s IPv4 infrastructure relies heavily on Network Address Translation (NAT), particularly Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), which internet service providers use to compensate for limited IPv4 address availability.
Experts say that the increased reliance on IPv4 has placed an additional strain on routers and network gateways, raising processing demands and potentially affecting connection stability.
This issue is particularly noticeable in mobile networks, where operators previously handled a portion of traffic via IPv6 or dual-stack configurations — allowing computers, routers, and servers to operate simultaneously on IPv4 and IPv6 — but now route the vast majority of traffic over IPv4.
Reported consequences include higher latency, slower connection establishment, and intermittent service disruptions, especially during periods of peak network usage.
The growing number of concurrent IPv4 sessions can also increase the risk of connection timeouts, degrade overall connection quality, and reduce the stability of long-duration communications.
The removal of IPv6 has further undermined service quality.
Many content delivery networks (CDNs) and cloud services naturally route traffic through IPv6 and more efficient network paths. With those routes unavailable, traffic is forced onto IPv4 infrastructure, resulting in greater congestion and reduced network efficiency.
As a result, internet access in Iran has not even returned to the quality level of the already restricted pre-war internet. Nevertheless, President Massoud Pezeshkian’s administration and its supporters have sought to portray the reopening as a major accomplishment.
Iran’s Government Information Council announced the restoration of internet access in a statement, saying: “Following approval by the special task force for organizing and managing the country’s cyberspace and confirmation by the president, global internet connectivity was made available to all users beginning Tuesday, May 26.”
“The previous situation, characterized by prolonged restrictions and unequal access, was no longer sustainable from social, economic, educational, legal, or security perspectives. Its continuation would have caused widespread harm to people’s daily lives, the national economy, the education system, and public trust.”
“The 14th government believes that free, secure, and equitable internet access is not a special privilege but a public right and an essential requirement of modern life,” the government statement added.
Critics, however, note that throughout the shutdown, officials in President Pezeshkian’s government repeatedly maintained that authority over internet restrictions and restorations did not rest with the administration itself. Instead, they said such decisions were made by higher-level bodies, including the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
For example, Information and Communications Technology Minister Sattar Hashemi stated in recent weeks that decisions regarding internet restrictions were determined by senior security institutions based on national circumstances and that the Ministry of Communications did not have sole authority over the matter.
Critics also point out that Pezeshkian campaigned on a promise to lift internet filtering, not to restore internet access after a months-long nationwide shutdown that affected millions of ordinary citizens.
