Google search access restored in Iran after 48 days of blocking - Media

Iranian media reported on Thursday that access to Google search in Iran has been restored after 48 days of internet outages, although some Google services are still unavailable, UNN reports with reference to CNN.

"A few hours ago, access to Google search became possible via both fixed and mobile internet. However, other Google services, such as Gmail, are still unavailable," reported the Iranian reformist newspaper Shargh Daily.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars also reported that "a few minutes ago, the Google search engine became available to users again," although it added that some users are still experiencing disruptions and fluctuations in connectivity.

Internet access has been largely cut off since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran, as the regime in Tehran tightens control over who can and cannot connect.

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Shargh Daily reported that during the outages, only users with so-called "white SIM cards" and those who could pay for certain VPN services were able to stay connected. White SIM cards are specialized mobile internet lines provided to a specific group of government officials, state-affiliated media workers, and regime supporters.

Earlier today, even before the Iranian media reports, the internet monitoring group NetBlocks stated that the internet shutdown was unprecedented in scale and severity for a connected society.

"The censorship measure, unparalleled in scale and severity in a connected society, has had an economic impact of ~$1.8 billion to date according to the COST methodology, in addition to the damage to human rights," NetBlocks added.