When the Islamic Republic initiated an internet blackout on January 8th, millions of Iranians were plunged into digital darkness. Online banking failed. Messaging platforms disappeared. Businesses and e-commerce ground to a halt. For a regime that has spent two decades constructing a domestic internet system – the National Information Network (NIN) – the shutdown exposed an uncomfortable reality: the centerpiece of Iran’s cybersecurity strategy is incomplete, and Tehran’s solution is to escalate repression.
First conceptualized in 2005, the NIN was positioned by state officials as a way to protect Iranian digital sovereignty. In practice, it has been weaponized against Iranian citizens to restrict access to information and curb dissent. The system is intended to allow Iran to disconnect from the global internet during periods of crisis while maintaining access to essential services – banking, healthcare, and government communications – on the domestic network.
Yet the infrastructure underpinning the NIN remains unfinished. In late 2024, Iranian officials acknowledged that the system was only 60 percent operational. Recent internet blackouts have highlighted the limitations of the NIN and the costs of relying on it.
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