Latest news with #NetBlocks
Wall Street Journal
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Iran's Internet Has Been Offline for More Than 12 Hours
Iran has severed internet access nationwide for more than 12 hours, an independent tracker says, after Tehran authorities instituted restrictions aiming to thwart alleged Israeli military cyber offensives. The 'nation-scale internet shutdown' across Iran limits the ability for locals to access information at a critical time, according to NetBlocks, an independent organization that tracks internet flows, in a social-media post.
Roya News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Roya News
European, Iranian diplomats to meet as US mulls joining 'Israel' campaign
European foreign ministers will hold talks Friday with their Iranian counterpart, hoping to reach a diplomatic solution to the war with 'Israel' as US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of US involvement. 'Israel', claiming Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, launched air strikes against its arch-enemy a week ago, triggering deadly exchanges. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sworn Iran will "pay a heavy price" for a strike on an 'Israeli' hospital on Thursday, an attack Tehran said was targeting a military and intelligence base. European leaders urging de-escalation have scrambled to hold talks with Iran, as Trump said he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States in 'Israel's' bombing campaign. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said "a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution", after meeting senior US officials in Washington on Thursday. Lammy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio "agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon", according to the State Department. Netanyahu welcomed the prospect of US involvement in its campaign, while Russia, an Iranian ally, told the United States that joining the conflict would be an "extremely dangerous step". The UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, which was requested by Iran with support from Russia, China and Pakistan. While Netanyahu has not publicly said that 'Israel' is trying to topple Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, defence minister Israel Katz warned after the strike on 'Israel's' Soroka hospital that Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist". A week of deadly exchanges between the two countries has plunged the Middle East into a new crisis, more than 20 months since Oct. 7, 2023. Iran imposed a "nationwide internet shutdown" on Thursday –the most extensive blackout since widespread anti-government protests in 2019– internet watchdog NetBlocks said. The shutdown "impacts the public's ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital", NetBlocks wrote on X. Any US involvement in 'Israel's' campaign against Iran would be expected to involve the bombing of a crucial underground Iranian nuclear facility in Fordo, using specially developed bunker-busting bombs. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told aides he had approved attack plans but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear programme. The US president had favoured a diplomatic route to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons – an ambition Tehran has consistently denied – seeking a deal to replace the 2015 agreement he tore up in his first term. Dozens of US military aircraft were no longer visible at a US base in Qatar on Thursday, satellite images showed -- a possible move to shield them from potential Iranian strikes. Nuclear sites White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Iran was "a couple of weeks" away from producing an atomic bomb. Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent – far above the 3.67-percent limit set by the 2015 deal, but still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. 'Israel' has maintained ambiguity on its own arsenal, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads. A key Iranian government body, the Guardian Council, threatened a "harsh response" if "the criminal American government and its stupid president... take action against Islamic Iran". On Thursday, 'Israel' said it struck "dozens" of Iranian targets overnight, including the partially built Arak nuclear reactor and a uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. Iranian atomic energy agency chief Mohammad Eslami confirmed in a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog that the Arak reactor was hit, demanding action to stop "violation of international regulations" by 'Israel'. Iranian media reported blasts in Tehran late Thursday, while the Revolutionary Guards said more than 100 "combat and suicide" drones were launched at 'Israel'. In the central 'Israeli' city of Bat Yam, the body of a woman was found in a site hit on Sunday, taking the death toll in Israel from Iranian missiles since June 13 to 25 people, according to authorities. Iran said Sunday that 'Israeli' strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Authorities have not issued an updated toll since.
NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Fear and hope as Israel and Iran exchange barrages of missile and drone strikes
'Everything happened so fast. I didn't expect that. We heard some fighter jets, we saw some air defense systems shooting objects which were probably drones,' he said. 'We are all terrified, and we don't know what to predict, but we don't want this war.' As the first explosions were going off, people started sending panicked messages to their relatives abroad. Azam Jangravi, an Iranian human rights advocate who lives in Canada, showed NBC News the texts she received from her 17-year-old cousin, Donya, in Tehran. 'It's so frightening,' the girl wrote. 'While the call to prayer is being broadcasted, you keep hearing these booms, one after another.' Like Jangravi, thousands of Iranians abroad have been anxiously trying to reach their relatives back home, but with very little luck. Communications are patchy and increasingly difficult. According to the site NetBlocks, which monitors internet access worldwide, on Thursday there was a near-total internet blackout in the country as Iranian authorities have shut down the network. For Jangravi, Iranians are being caught between two warring sides. 'Two governments are fighting on our land,' she said. 'In the first days of the war, people were happy because they thought they'd kill Khamenei, but right now they don't have any hope,' she said referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Gulf Insider
a day ago
- Politics
- Gulf Insider
Trump Has Reportedly Approved Iran Attack Plans But Is Withholding Final Order
As President Trump convenes a White House situation room meeting this Tuesday early evening, and following Ayatollah Khamenei's earlier televised speech vowing 'we will not surrender' – The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Trump has made the decision: President Trump told senior aides late Tuesday that he approved of attack plans for Iran, but was holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program, people familiar with the deliberations said. Iran's well-defended Fordow enrichment facility is a possible U.S. target. Israel has yet to attack the facility, which is buried under a mountain and is generally considered by military experts to be out of reach of all but the most powerful bombs. Asked earlier if he had decided whether to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump said, 'I may do it, I may not do it.' And he repeated his insistence of Iran's unconditional surrender: 'The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.' Is this yet another last ditch effort to strong arm Tehran to the negotiating table, where Trump's hope is that it will declare zero enrichment? Has the US Commander-in-Chief painted himself into a corner, and now it's all zero sum? The Iranians remain under heavy Israeli bombing, and with leadership likely in deep bunkers, are unlikely to negotiate the end of their own 'regime'. Trump may have finally pulled the trigger here. Where's Congress? Meanwhile, elements of the Right and elements of the Left are uniting around this simple and very reasonable observation… Netanyahu is not the President of the United States. He should not be determining U.S. foreign and military policy. If the people of Israel support his decision to start a war with Iran, that is their business and their war. The United States must not be a part of it. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 18, 2025 Things are quickly going from bad to worse for Iran, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes, and given Iran's air defenses in its western portion of the country appear completely destroyed and disabled. Iran is now in a 'near-total national internet blackout' – according to monitoring from a UK-based watchdog: ⚠️ Confirmed: Live network data show #Iran is now in the midst of a near-total national internet blackout; the incident follows a series of earlier partial disruptions and comes amid escalating military tensions with Israel after days of back-and-forth missile strikes 📉 — NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 18, 2025 Vital civic infrastructure in Tehran, including some sewage system and water networks, have also been hit. * * * President Donald Trump on Wednesday fielded reporters' questions on the Iran crisis, but refused to answer whether the US military will directly enter the war, amid Israeli requests that the Pentagon assist in striking Iran's nuclear facilities. 'There's a big difference between now and a week ago,' Trump told reporters outside the White House, and added curiously: 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.' He indicated that the Iranians had reached out but he feels 'it's very late to be talking.' But he also threw out the possibility: 'We may meet. It's, I don't know, there's a big difference between now and a week ago,' he said on the White House lawn. Click here to read more…
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
People in Iran trying to flee Israeli bombs face internet blackout, ordered to delete WhatsApp
Iranians face a nationwide internet blackout as Israeli strikes continue to pummel the country, including the capital Tehran. NetBlocks, an internet watchdog run by British human rights advocate Alp Toker, reported mid-Thursday (Australia time) that Iran had been offline for more than 12 hours. It said authorities had imposed a nation-wide internet shutdown, citing Israel's alleged "misuse" of the network for military purposes. "The measure continues to hinder residents' access to information at a critical time," NetBlocks said. Since Israel first attacked Iran last Friday, Iranian authorities have regularly placed partial restrictions on internet access for the country's roughly 90 million people — even as many sought to flee their homes to safer locations. Iranian authorities have reported at least 224 deaths, mainly civilians, as the result of Israel's bombing campaign — but have not updated that toll for days. A number of senior military leaders and scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program have been killed in strikes on their homes in apartment blocks, which authorities said also killed scores of civilians. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said on Thursday that at least 639 people — of whom it had identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel — had been killed in Iran. Israel has said 24 people, all civilians, have been killed in Iran's retaliatory strikes. Ali Vaez, Iran project director with the Washington-based think tank Crisis Group, said it was unclear why Iranian authorities had blocked the internet. "One possible reason could be that they're worried about an Israeli cyber attack that could either tap into sensitive information or paralyse some of the critical infrastructure in the country," he said. "There might also be damage to some of the infrastructure that provides internet," Dr Vaez said. "The regime might also be potentially interested in trying to prevent communication out of fear it would allow mobilisation from inside the country as some sort of popular or foreign-led uprising against the regime." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken about the need for regime change in Tehran. Speaking after the first strikes against Iran last week he said, addressing Iranians, that: "As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom. "The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker. This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard," Mr Neyanyahu said. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran would not surrender in comments carried by semi-official news agency Tasnim. "War will be met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike," he said. "Iran will not submit to any demands or dictates." In response to internet restrictions, tech billionaire Elon Musk said on his social media platform X over the weekend that he had activated the Starlink satellite communications system in Iran. The internet there was already heavily censored and authorities have previously shut off or restricted internet access to suppress popular dissent, including in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini which sparked anti-regime women's rights protests. Iranian officials blocked access to WhatsApp in the wake of those protests until late 2024. On Tuesday (Tehran time), Iranian state television told Iranians to remove the WhatsApp messaging platform from their phones, claiming that the app was sending user information to Israel. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, said this was "false information that we're concerned will be used as an excuse to block WhatsApp at a time when people need it the most". "All of your personal messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted so we cannot see them," WhatsApp said in a statement. "We do not track your precise location. We do not keep logs of the personal messages people are sending one another. "We do not provide bulk information to any government," it said. The ABC's attempts to contact a source in Tehran via WhatsApp on Thursday was unsuccessful. Iranians have also reported having difficulty accessing cash or making online payments due to disruptions to the country's banking systems. CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, who is British-Iranian, told ABC Radio National she was in contact with family and some friends in Iran. "They are, at least my family, trying to do their best to evacuate to various homes inside Tehran but they can't get out because the roads are gridlocked, they don't have gasoline," she said. "The financial system has been hacked so therefore it's hard to pay for what you need. If this goes on, they might run out of provisions." Predatory Sparrow, an Israel-linked hacking group known by its Persian name Gonjeshke Darande, earlier in the week claimed a major cyber attack against the Iranian financial institution Bank Sepah. The hacking group said Bank Sepah was "an institution that circumvented international sanctions and used the people of Iran's money to finance the regime's terrorist proxies, its ballistic missile program and its military nuclear program". Crisis Group's Dr Vaez said the Iranian population was terrified — particularly because state media had extensively covered the war in Gaza since October 7, 2023. "They have seen the degree of bloodshed and civilian casualties in Gaza, and they know that, you know, Israel doesn't necessarily distinguish between civilians and its prime targets and and so they're terrified," he said. Palestinian authorities say more than 55,000 people have been killed during Israel's war against Hamas. The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas-led militants raided Israel and took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel has maintained that its military operations are conducted in self-defence and that it takes steps to mitigate civilian harm. Dr Vaez said that unlike in Israel, there were no bomb shelters for civilians in Iran so people felt especially unprotected and vulnerable. "This is a regime that was not offering anything on social freedoms or economic prosperity or political participation. It was only offering security," he said. "Now even on that front, it is failing and there's a sense of despair inside the country."
