By Euronews Persian
Iran's government said on Tuesday it could not say when the country's 82-day internet blackout would end, as new data showed the shutdown has cost the economy more than $1 billion and a tiered access system has emerged that critics say gives internet to officials and professionals while cutting off ordinary citizens.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani, responding to questions about when international internet access would be restored, said the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian opposed restrictions on internet use but could not provide a timeline.
"With the mandate the president has given (Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza) Aref, we are trying, while taking into account all existing issues, the wishes of the supreme leader and the relevant considerations, to untie the knots around the internet so that we can arrive at a fairer situation," she said.
International internet access was severed roughly an hour after the joint US-Israeli strike on Iran on 28 February, following a blackout previously imposed by the Tehran regime as part of the crackdown on country-wide anti-austerity protests that reached their peak in January.
