Iranian journalists face severe challenges reporting news after internet shutdown following Israeli-American strikes, using satellite terminals and encrypted communications to bypass government restrictions.
Tehran: Israeli and American strikes killed dozens of senior officials in Tehran on Saturday. Within hours, Iran’s government turned off almost all internet access to cut the country off from the outside world.
Mostafa Zadeh is a journalist in Tehran. He tells WIRED Middle East that he was not surprised when internet service stopped working. The government has done this before during protests and security problems. “The Iranian government wants to stop communication between Israeli spies and people inside Iran,” Zadeh explains.
But the biggest problem is for journalists and media workers who lose their tools. They must choose between finding ways around internet blocks while risking arrest or staying silent. Zadeh says journalists pay the highest price when governments care more about security than sharing information. The right to know what’s happening gets hurt first.
During protests after Mahsa Amini died in 2022, authorities cut or slowed internet many times. Families could not reach loved ones. Protesters could not talk to each other. People outside Iran could not see what was happening inside. This new shutdown feels very similar to that time.
Zadeh prepared for this blackout by going to Turkey for five days so he could keep working. But during the internet shutdown in 2025, his American newspaper stopped hearing from him. His editor worried something bad had happened. This time Zadeh has a Starlink satellite connection but won’t use it because Iranian spies might track the signal back to him.
Many journalists made the same choice. Iranian journalists use Signal and Threema apps to send encrypted messages. They also make international phone calls and send text messages. Some get videos from citizens that are smuggled out of Iran in encrypted form. Erfan Khorshidi leads a human rights group from outside Iran. He put Starlink devices inside Iran before January protests so reports could be sent in real time.
Other groups use satellite photos from companies like Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs. These show what’s happening even when journalists cannot. Before Starlink, internet shutdowns left big gaps in recording human rights problems in Iran.