Internet access available through mobile devices in Iran appears to be limited, according to several social media accounts that routinely track such developments.
Cloudflare Radar, which monitors internet traffic on behalf of the internet infrastructure firm Cloudflare, said on Thursday that IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), a standard widely used for mobile infrastructure, was affected.
"IPv6 address space in Iran dropped by 98.5 per cent, concurrent with IPv6 traffic share dropping from 12 per cent to 1.8 per cent, as the government selectively blocks internet access amid protests," read Cloudflare Radar's social post.
NetBlocks, which tracks internet access and digital rights around the world, also confirmed it was seeing problems with connectivity through various internet providers in Iran.
"Live network data show Tehran and other parts of Iran are now entering a digital blackout," NetBlocks posted on X.
For almost two weeks, social unrest has spread throughout Iran, leading to widespread demonstrations.
The suppression of internet access in Iran is not unprecedented. In June last year, when the country was exchanging missile strikes with Israel, temporary internet restrictions were put in place by Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications.
"We inform the honourable people of Iran that, in view of the country's special conditions and with the measures of the competent authorities, temporary restrictions have been imposed on the country's internet," a message from the ministry read at the time.
Full internet blackouts, however, have become more difficult for Tehran to achieve amid a proliferation of low-earth-orbit internet access services such as Elon Musk's Starlink, though most people in Iran do not have Starlink consoles to connect to the service.
Over the last several hours, people have been tagging Elon Musk on X and urging him to turn on Starlink access for the country.
Mohammed Soliman, a technology analyst and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that it's unlikely that Iran's internet problems are simply a technical error.
"The timing and sharp drop point to a deliberate, centralised move," he said, adding that the country has become "quite adept" at selectively throttling internet access by protocol or provider to disrupt protest coordination without necessarily imposing a full nationwide blackout.
Mr Soliman, who also recently authored West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East, added a caveat about Iran's most recent attempt at blunting internet communication.
"What's notable is how targeted this is," he explained.
"The goal seems to be making the internet just unreliable enough to slow protest activity while keeping basic services online."
