After nearly three weeks of internet disruption, Iran’s Minister of Communications Sattar Hashemi said on 26 January the daily losses caused by the shutdown amount to nearly five trillion tomans ($35m; £25m).
Amid mounting economic pressure, authorities appear to have introduced tightly controlled forms of internet access for some businesses, which analysts say may be part of a plan to manage connectivity more selectively.
Business figures told the BBC in some cities, members of the Chamber of Commerce are granted just 20 to 30 minutes of unfiltered internet access per day.
Even then, they claim this is only under supervision and after completing multiple stages of identity verification.
One member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the access was “fully rationed and strictly time-limited”.
They added if work was not completed within the allotted time, the entire verification process had to be repeated.
The same source said some businesspeople had also been required to sign commitments not to send files related to the protests.
They called the system “effectively paralysing and humiliating” given the number of people involved, and said it had generated widespread dissatisfaction among traders.
Internet freedom observers at FilterWatch have previously warned the authorities are rapidly putting in place new systems and rules aimed at cutting Iran off from the international internet.
And Madory said, looking at web traffic data, the patterns suggest a full restoration of internet access in Iran may never occur.