Iran Restores Internet After 88-Day Blackout as Access Stabilizes Near 59% of Pre-Shutdown Levels
Updated
Updated · The Cloudflare Blog · Jul 28
Iran Restores Internet After 88-Day Blackout as Access Stabilizes Near 59% of Pre-Shutdown Levels
3 articles · Updated · The Cloudflare Blog · Jul 28
Summary
May 26 marked the start of Iran’s Internet restoration after an 88-day near-total shutdown, with national traffic later peaking around 90% of pre-outage levels before settling near 59%.
Cloudflare said that pattern suggests a selective, phased reopening rather than a full return to normal, with current usage roughly matching Iran’s February baseline between earlier shutdowns.
The report contrasted Iran’s recovery with other government-driven disruptions in Q2, including 10 exam-related shutdowns in Sudan and three in Iraq, showing how states can quickly cut or reintroduce connectivity.
Elsewhere in the region, traffic to AWS’s me-central-1 cloud region in the UAE stayed depressed after drone-strike damage reported in March and April, underscoring that both policy decisions and physical attacks can disrupt Internet access.