Comment by bigyabai
4 hours ago
Sorry, but that's not the reason. This is a symmetrical response to CENTCOM and the Israeli Military Censor's policy of freezing OSINT in-theater.
In any case, it's perfectly clear that the internet blackout didn't stop the protests. The protests were never going to topple the government, the CIA/Mossad needs the Kurds to fight the IRGC (and the Kurds don't want to fight).
Is that why they did similar blackouts in 2019, 2022, and 2024 too?
It absolutely could be one of the motives, I'm not a member of the IRGC so I couldn't tell you for certain.
I do know that the IDF and CENTCOM have been censoring in-theater OSINT for decades, and we also know that Iran has the incentives to do the same thing with a larger population. Lacking the CIA and Mossad's censorship tools, a total shutdown is not really that unexpected.
No. What all of those dates had in common wasn't the USA or Israel, it was protests by the Iranian population.
Yes, blackout to prevent OSINT is a thing. That's not why they were doing them in 2019, 2022, and 2024 and it's not why they're doing it now (seeing as it started before the war). They're doing it to suppress their population because they fear an uprising.