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Iran expands tiered internet access amid continued online blackout

Al Jazeera · · 1054 words · By Maziar Motamedi
Digital Rights vs. National Security Iranian Government Governance
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/editorial/2026/5/14/iran-expands-tiered-internet-acces…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Whataboutism 90% confidence
Deflecting criticism by pointing to a different issue.
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Doubt 70% confidence
Questioning the credibility of a source or claim without providing evidence.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

16 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 6
info Single Source 3
check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info
“President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday announced the creation of a new entity to review internet coverage in the country named the Specialised Headquarters for Organising and Guiding Iran’s Cyberspace”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web results confirm Masoud Pezeshkian is the President of Iran, none of the provided evidence mentions the creation of the 'Specialised Headquarters for Organising and Guiding Iran’s Cyberspace'.
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web search NEUTRAL — President of Iran: Masoud Pezeshkian.Organisations based in Tehran. 2012 establishments in Iran. Iranian entities subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions. Specially Designated Nationals a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Council_of_Cyberspace_…
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian announces three conditions to end war with Israel and the United States as Middle East conflict enters day 13.
https://www.theurduclub.com/2026/03/iran-3-conditions-end-wa…
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian, announced the decision on Saturday as Western powers prepare to reimpose punishing military and economic sancti…
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/21/iran-says-e3-move-t…
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“First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, a relative moderate, appointed as its head”
SINGLE SOURCE
Evidence confirms Mohammad Reza Aref is the First Vice President of Iran, but there is no evidence that he was appointed head of the specific entity mentioned in the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Mohammad Reza Aref is an Iranian engineer, academic and reformist politician who is the eighth and current first vice president of Iran since 2024, under President Masoud Pezeshkian; he previously ser…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Aref
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web search NEUTRAL — Newly inaugurated Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Mohammad Reza Aref as his First Vice President. The announcement came just an hour after the conclusion of the presidential inaugura…
https://iranwire.com/en/politics/132321-mohammad-reza-aref-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — Aref ran for president in 2013 but dropped out of the race in favor of Hassan Rouhani, who was elected president for two consecutive terms. Pezeshkian was announced as Iran's next president on July 6 …
https://english.news.cn/20240728/25fcd37fa87040b3a4c346a5ca8…
verified
“The council... is a powerful state body established by slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2012 to govern the internet landscape in Iran.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and other sources explicitly state that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei established the Supreme Council of Cyberspace in 2012 to oversee the internet in Iran.
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web search NEUTRAL — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, instructed the Iranian authorities to set up the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, a body to oversee the internet. It consists of the president of Iran, the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_Iran
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web search NEUTRAL — The establishment of the Supreme Cyber Council was widely covered by Iranian media and even discussed by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the Friday prayer leader in Tehran, who praised the Supreme Leader for…
https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/17774/
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web search NEUTRAL — Established in 2012 by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this council gives the hackers their marching orders. From its foundation, this government body has been controlled by hard-liners, including the preside…
https://www.thetrumpet.com/13844-iran-cyber-superpower
info
“The council, and its current secretary, Mohammad Amin Aghamiri, have led the charge in heavily restricting Iranians’ access to the internet”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim discusses the Prophet Muhammad and does not mention Mohammad Amin Aghamiri or his role as secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
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web search NEUTRAL — Muhammad's successors later continued the expansion of the Islamic state, creating the Rashidun caliphate. Muhammad in Islam is seen as the last prophet of God, and a moral example for mankind. His su…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad
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web search NEUTRAL — The rise of Islam is intrinsically linked with the Prophet Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be the last in a long line of prophets that includes Moses and Jesus.
https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/curriculum-resourc…
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 18, 2024 · The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stands as one of the most transformative and influential figures in human history. Revered as the final messenger of God in Islam, he not only f…
https://islamicinfocenter.com/the-prophet-muhammad/
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“Pezeshkian’s move to review the government’s internet policy comes 11 weeks into a near-total online blackout affecting 90 million-plus citizens”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and CBC News, report a near-total internet blackout in Iran lasting over 70 days (approximately 10-11 weeks) affecting the population.
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web search NEUTRAL — Reports from Iran described widespread telephone and internet blackouts in Tehran, with additional disruptions reported in Isfahan, Lordegan, Abdanan, parts of Shiraz, and Kermanshah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran
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web search NEUTRAL — Iranians have faced a near-total blackout for more than 70 days straight. The shutdown has cost the Iranian economy an estimated $250-million US a day.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-internet-blackout-economi…
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web search NEUTRAL — Iranian women have been disproportionately affected by the Internet blackout that authorities have imposed since the war broke out.
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-internet-blackout-women-brunt-l…
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“which followed a similar 20-day outage during deadly nationwide protests in January.”
CORROBORATED
Wikipedia and other reports confirm an internet blackout occurred in January 2026 during nationwide protests, with one source specifically mentioning a 20-day shutdown.
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web search NEUTRAL — Since 8 January 2026, the twelfth day of the 2025–2026 protests in Iran, Iranian authorities imposed an internet blackout.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran
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web search NEUTRAL — After a 20-day internet shutdown, Iranian authorities are gradually restoring access to the web, albeit under restrictive measures that include “whitelists” and mandatory user identification.
https://ernfglyo---romecifp-vaa6o7gpmq-ez.a.run.app/en/socie…
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web search NEUTRAL — Tehran and several other parts of Iran experienced a digital blackout on Thursday as internet connectivity dropped across multiple service providers, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said, during n…
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-882714
verified
“Since February 28, when the war with the United States and Israel began, most Iranians have been completely disconnected from the worldwide web”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and Britannica both confirm that a war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, and that this led to nationwide internet disconnections.
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web search NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been engaged in a war with Iran and its regional allies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf. The fighting escalated quickly, spreading to Lebanon, with casualties and damage mounting on all sides. The US and Iran …
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dyz6p3weo
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web search NEUTRAL — The 2026 Iran war is a conflict that is centered on Iran and was initiated by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, embroiling the entire Middle East region.
https://www.britannica.com/event/2026-Iran-war
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“It is now the longest nationwide internet shutdown in the world”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including The Guardian and NetBlocks (via Wikipedia), state that the current internet shutdown in Iran is the longest nationwide shutdown on record.
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web search NEUTRAL — "Iran internet blackout is longest nationwide shutdown on record: NetBlocks"."Why Iran can't afford to shut down the internet forever – even if the world doesn't act".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran
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web search NEUTRAL — Iranian authorities cut all access to the internet on 28 February, the day the war began, after an earlier shutdown in January during nationwide protests. This current blackout has lasted more than 38…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/06/iran-inte…
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web search NEUTRAL — Iran’s internet blackout, which was imposed soon after the US and Israel attacked the country on February 28, is now the longest nationwide shutdown on record, according to the monitor NetBlocks.
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2026/04/05/ir…
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“The Supreme National Security Council... has launched a state-distributed service called “Internet Pro””
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding a service called 'Internet Pro' launched by the Supreme National Security Council.
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“Telegram, WhatsApp and ChatGPT can be accessed via the platform, but YouTube and almost all other international services remain blocked.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found regarding the specific access permissions of the 'Internet Pro' platform.
schedule
“Chief Justice of Iran Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, this week, admitted inconsistencies in the implementation of Internet Pro”
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“Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani lashed out at reporters during a news conference in Tehran on Tuesday”
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“the Islamic Republic first imposed a near-total internet shutdown in the country, which lasted about a week... in November 2019.”
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“Hossein Simaei Saraf, minister of science, research and technology, said in a speech last week... 'the continuation of the disruption of the internet for the general public will be against national security'”
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“Saraf... wrote a letter directly addressed to Aghamiri... to ask for the US National Library of Medicine’s authoritative database, PubMed, to be unblocked. It was reopened to Iranians several days later.”
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“Hashemi had boasted during a meeting with hardline lawmakers on Tuesday that local messaging apps like Baleh, Eita and others have a combined user base of 100 million people.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.