Sources told Persian Gulf media that senior officials in the intelligence apparatus of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are working at full force to prevent the restoration of full internet access.
According to the sources, lifting the restrictions could enable reformist figures within the Iranian regime to communicate with students and young people and to promote dialogue on the country's mounting internal problems. From the perspective of hardline elements, this could help the reformists build a popular support base and increase pressure on the conservative camp in the ongoing power struggle inside the Islamic Republic.
At the same time, Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and an adviser in his office, publicly called for an end to the internet blackout. He said the authorities would have to confront the spread of documentation of the crackdown on protests "sooner or later" in any case.
According to Pezeshkian, continuing the shutdown would only deepen public frustration and would not resolve the ongoing crisis. In a message posted on Telegram, he stressed that the blackout merely "postpones the problem." He warned that prolonging the restrictions could push more citizens into the streets and argued that the risks of maintaining the blackout now outweigh fears of renewed protests.
Sources who spoke with the Emirati news site Iram News said Iranian officials are particularly concerned that restoring internet access would lead to the widespread circulation of footage documenting the killing of peaceful protesters by police forces. Such material, they warned, "could reignite street protests with greater momentum than before."
The report added that another concern in Tehran is that the footage could increase pressure on US President Donald Trump to adopt a tougher stance, especially given his past expressions of support for Iranian protesters and reports about US forces concentrating in the Middle East amid the possibility of military action.
Only a day earlier, Behzad Akbari, chief executive of Iran's Telecommunications Infrastructure Company, said internet services would be restored within hours, following several days of restrictions. It has also been reported that Iranian citizens have been crossing the border into Turkey on a daily basis in order to gain access to the internet.
