DOHA, January 12. /TASS/. The Iranian government blocked access to the internet during protests after foreign-orchestrated terrorist operations began, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
"Internet access was blocked when terrorist operations coordinated from abroad began," he told the Al Jazeera television channel.
NetBlocks, an international internet monitoring service, reported earlier on Monday that Iran had been without internet access for 96 hours. On January 9, the Iranian ministry of communications and information technologies said that it was taking measures to bring the internet back online.
On December 29, 2025, merchants began protesting in Tehran over a sharp decline in the value of the Iranian rial. On December 30, university students joined the unrest, which engulfed the majority of major cities. The protests peaked on the night of January 8, when at least 13 civilians, including a three-year-old child, were killed as a result of rioters’ actions. The authorities also announced the death of 38 law enforcement officers. Tehran labelled the rioters as terrorists and placed responsibility for the unrest on Israel and the United States.
US President Donald Trump said earlier that the United States was considering using force to quell the unrest in Iran. Variants of reacting to the developments in Iran, including potential strikes, are expected to be presented to him on January 13.