DUBAI – In a dramatic move on Thursday evening, Iran’s ruling theocracy severed the nation’s connection to the outside world, effectively cutting off its 85 million citizens from global communication channels.

By disconnecting internet and phone services, Iran has employed a strategy previously seen during protests and conflict. This action breaks the link between Iranians and their extensive diaspora across the United States, Europe, and beyond. Until now, despite facing heavy sanctions linked to its nuclear ambitions, Iranians were able to access mobile applications and blocked websites by using virtual private networks to bypass these restrictions.

This shutdown comes amidst significant nationwide protests over Iran’s deteriorating economy, marking one of the most substantial challenges to the government in recent years. By limiting the flow of images and personal accounts from within the country, the government may be aiming to obscure any potential violent crackdowns. This is a critical concern, especially after the Trump administration signaled that Iran could face repercussions for any further fatalities among protesters.

As Iran plunges into an information blackout, families and friends abroad are left in turmoil, desperate for any updates. Tensions are heightened by a statement from Iran’s attorney general, warning that participants in the protests could be deemed “enemies of God,” a charge that carries the death penalty.

“You can’t understand our feelings. My brothers, my cousins, they will go on the street. You can’t imagine the anxiety of the Iranian diaspora,” expressed Azam Jangravi, a cybersecurity expert based in Toronto and an opponent of Iran’s government. “I couldn’t work yesterday. I had meetings but I postponed them because I couldn’t focus. I was thinking of my family and friends.”

Her voice cracked as she added: “A lot of people are being killed and injured by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we don’t know who.”

Even Starlink is likely being jammed

This is the third time Iran has shut down the internet from the outside world. The first was in 2019, when demonstrators angry about a spike in government-subsidized gasoline prices took to the streets. Over 300 people reportedly were killed.

Then came the protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the country’s morality police over allegedly not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. A monthslong crackdown killed more than 500 people.

While the connectivity offered by Starlink played a role in the Amini demonstrations, the deployment of its receivers is now far greater in Iran. That’s despite the government never authorizing Starlink to function, making the service illegal to possess and use.

A year ago, an Iranian official estimated tens of thousands of Starlink receivers in the Islamic Republic, a figure that Los Angeles-based internet freedom activist Mehdi Yahyanejad said sounded right.

While many receivers likely are in the hands of business people and others wanting to stay in touch with the outside world for their livelihoods, Yahyanejad said some are now being used to share videos, photos and other reporting on the protests.

“In this case, because all those things have been disrupted, Starlink is playing the key for getting all these videos out,” Yahyanejad said.

However, Starlink receivers are facing challenges. Since its 12-day war with Israel last June, Iran has been disrupting GPS signals, likely in a bid to make drones less effective. Starlink receivers use GPS signals to position themselves to connect to a constellation of low-orbit satellites.

Amir Rashidi, director of digital rights and security at the Miaan Group and an expert on Iran, said that since Thursday he had seen about a 30% loss in packets being sent by Starlink devices — basically units of data that transmit across the internet. In some areas of Iran, Rashidi said there had been an 80% loss in packets.

“I believe the Iranian government is doing something beyond GPS jamming, like in Ukraine where Russia tried to jam Starlink,” Rashidi said. He suggested Iran may be using a mobile jammer, like it did in previous decades to disrupt satellite television receivers.

The International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, has called on Iran to stop jamming in the past.

Meanwhile, Iran has been advocating at the ITU for Starlink service to the country to be stopped.

Help ‘needs to come soon’

It appears that the majority of information coming out of Iran since Thursday night is being transmitted via Starlink, which is now illegal. That carries dangers for those possessing the devices.

“It’s really hard to use it because if they arrest a person, they can execute the person and say this person is working for Israel or the United States,” Jangravi said.

Not using it, however, means the world knows even less about what’s happening inside Iran at a pivotal moment.

“This sort of nonviolent protest is not sustainable when the violence (by security forces) is so extreme,” Yahyanejad said. “Unless something changes in the next two or three days, these protests can die down, too. If there’s any help, it needs to come soon.”