Iran to consider lifting internet ban; state TV hacked

Iran’s streets have been mostly quiet for a week after December protests were violently suppressed

Iran may lift its internet blackout in a few days, a senior parliament member said on Monday, after authorities shut communications while using massive force to crush protests in the worst domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In the latest sign of weakness in the authorities’ control, state television appeared to be hacked late on Sunday, briefly showing speeches by United States President Donald Trump and the exiled son of Iran’s last shah calling on the public to revolt.

Iran’s streets have largely been quiet for a week, authorities and social media posts indicated, since anti-government protests that began in late December were put down in three days of mass violence.

An Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the confirmed death toll was more than 5,000, including 500 members of the security forces, with some of the worst unrest in ethnic Kurdish areas in the northwest. Western-based Iranian rights groups also say thousands were killed.

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Arrests reported continuing

US-based Iranian Kurdish rights group HRANA reported on Monday that many injuries to protesters came from pellet fire to the face and chest, causing blindness, internal bleeding, and organ damage.

State television said arrests continued across Iran on Sunday, including in Tehran, Kerman in the south, and Semnan east of the capital. It said detainees included alleged agents of Israeli terrorist groups. Opponents accuse authorities of opening fire on peaceful demonstrators, while Iran’s clerical rulers say armed crowds encouraged by foreign enemies attacked hospitals and mosques.

The death tolls dwarf previous bouts of anti-government unrest in 2022 and 2009. The violence drew repeated threats from Trump of military intervention, raising fears among Gulf Arab states, who engaged in intensive diplomacy with Washington and Tehran.

Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, said on Monday: “Igniting any conflict will have consequences for the entire region.”

Internet to return when “conditions are appropriate”

Iranian communications, including internet and international phone lines, were largely cut during the unrest. The blackout has partially eased, allowing some accounts of attacks on protesters to emerge.

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Internet monitoring group Netblocks said national connectivity remained minimal, but a “filternet” with managed restrictions was allowing some messages through, suggesting authorities were testing a heavily filtered service.

⚠️ Update: With the #Iran internet blackout now spanning its twelfth day, metrics show that national connectivity remains minimal. In recent days, the filternet has occasionally allowed messages through, suggesting that the regime is testing a more heavily filtered intranet. pic.twitter.com/LoQxasz6Jy

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 19, 2026

Ebrahim Azizi, head of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said top security bodies would decide on restoring internet in the coming days, with service resuming “as soon as security conditions are appropriate”.

Hardliner parliament member Hamid Rasaei said authorities should have heeded Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s earlier warnings about “lax cyberspace.”

During Sunday’s apparent hack of state television, screens broadcast a segment with the headline “the real news of the Iranian national revolution”.

It included messages from Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s last shah, calling for a revolt to overthrow the clerics who have ruled since the 1979 revolution. Pahlavi has become a prominent opposition voice and has said he plans to return to Iran, though it is difficult to independently assess the level of domestic support.