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Iran Conflict 2026
29APR

SNSC restores 'Internet Pro' on Day 60

3 min read
09:17UTC

Iran's Supreme National Security Council approved limited online access for select businesses and academics on 28 April, the first concession on a 1,416-hour blackout.

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Key takeaway

Iran's SNSC approved limited access on Day 60, the first concession on a 1,416-hour blackout.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) approved an 'Internet Pro' scheme on 28 April 2026 to restore limited online access for select businesses and academics, the first concession on a 60-day blackout that Netblocks now logs at 1,416 hours . Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed the scheme; broader access will only resume when 'current geopolitical problems' are resolved. The National confirmed via the Iranian government readout.

The Supreme National Security Council is Iran's principal national security decision-making body, chaired by the President and ratified by the Supreme Leader. Its sign-off on Internet Pro routes around the Ministry of Communications, which has carried the operational shutdown since 28 February. Daily economic losses run at $30-40 million direct and up to $80 million indirect across the full 60 days, a cumulative cost the SNSC has held against the security calculus until this Tuesday. The 1,416-hour figure corrects the 1,440-hour rounded projection in the prior NetBlocks entry; the body has now logged the longest sustained national internet shutdown in its records.

The scheme's eligibility criteria, restricted to businesses and academics that the SNSC vets case by case, encodes the same selective-access logic Iran used during the 2009 Green Movement and the November 2019 fuel-protest shutdown. Mohajerani's 'current geopolitical problems' phrase is doing real work: it ties the timing of full restoration to the ceasefire architecture Abbas Araghchi is moving through Islamabad and St Petersburg, where he met Vladimir Putin on 26-27 April . The decision arrives the same Tuesday the Islamabad ceasefire text lands in Washington and Mahan Air resumes the Tehran-Moscow rotation, on a domestic clock that is moving while the WPR clock expires on the other side of the negotiation. The economic ministries pushing for restoration will read the SNSC concession as a partial win after eight weeks of internal pressure; the security file holding the broader blackout has produced a smaller crack rather than a structural reversal.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Iran's government shut down most internet access on 28 February when the war began. For 60 days, most Iranians could not use social media, news sites, or international communication apps. Businesses and universities have been unable to process payments, submit research, or communicate with partners abroad. On 28 April the government approved a partial fix called 'Internet Pro', which gives certain approved businesses and academics access to the internet. Ordinary residential users still cannot use it freely. The government said it will only restore full access when the war situation improves. Critics say the real reason for the blackout is to stop people organising protests, not to protect national security.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

Iran's internet infrastructure is structurally centralised through the National Information Network (SHOMA), a state-built intranet that SNSC can partition from the global internet without cutting domestic services.

This architecture, built specifically to enable selective shutdowns after the 2009 and 2019 protests, is what makes Internet Pro technically feasible: business-grade access runs on SHOMA's domestic backbone while residential connectivity to external platforms is separately controlled.

The economic ministries' documented daily loss figure of $30-40 million direct and $80 million indirect reflects cumulative pressure from export-facing businesses, insurance and financial services, and academic institutions, none of which can operate competitive functions on SHOMA's domestic backbone alone. Internet Pro is therefore a targeted relief measure for the sectors with the highest per-capita economic loss, not a rights concession.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    At $30-80 million per day in economic losses, the 60-day blackout has cost Iran's economy an estimated $1.8-4.8 billion in cumulative direct and indirect losses, a figure that compounds the sanctions pressure already constraining SNSC economic decision-making.

  • Risk

    Internet Pro's two-tier structure, preserving business access while maintaining residential suppression, creates a documented Iranian playbook for wartime internet governance that other authoritarian states may adopt in future conflict scenarios.

Sources:The National
Mentions:Internet Pro →Fatemeh Mohajerani →National Security Council (Iran) →NetBlocks →St Petersburg →Ministry of Communications →Mahan Air →Islamabad →Moscow →Vladimir Putin →Tehran →Iran →Washington →Iran International →Abbas Araghchi →
First Reported In

Update #83 · UAE quits OPEC, war signs nothing

The National· 29 Apr 2026
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Causes and effects
Caused by
Iran internet blackout enters 60th day
Internet Pro scheme approved on 28 April is the first concession on the 60-day blackout logged at 1,416 hours in ID:2857.
Occurred 28 Apr 2026
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This Event
SNSC restores 'Internet Pro' on Day 60
The Internet Pro scheme is the first crack in a 60-day shutdown that has cost the Iranian economy $30-40 million daily in direct losses and up to $80 million in indirect losses. Tehran is conditioning broader access on geopolitical resolution, tying domestic connectivity to the same ceasefire architecture Abbas Araghchi is moving through Islamabad and St Petersburg.
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