{"id":229870,"date":"2026-01-09T22:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/229870\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T22:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T22:38:12","slug":"nobel-laureate-shirin-ebadi-says-iran-internet-shutdown-could-hide-possible-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/229870\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi says Iran internet shutdown could hide possible &#8216;massacre&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi on Friday warned security forces in the Islamic Republic could be preparing to commit a \u201cmassacre under the cover of a sweeping communications blackout\u201d after imposing a nationwide internet shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>The internet shutdown is \u201cnot a technical failure\u2026 it is a tactic,\u201d the veteran campaigner, who now lives in exile, said on her official Telegram account.<\/p>\n<p>She said she had received information that hundreds of people had been taken to a Tehran hospital on Thursday with \u201csevere eye injuries\u201d caused by pellet gun fire.<\/p>\n<p>Protests have taken place across Iran for 13 days in a movement sparked by anger over the rising cost of living that is now marked by calls for the end of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the pro-Western shah.<\/p>\n<p>An internet blackout implemented by the Iranian authorities during the protests has now lasted 24 hours, internet freedom monitor Netblocks said.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has now been 24 hours since Iran implemented a nationwide internet shutdown, with connectivity flatlining at 1% of ordinary levels,\u201d the organization said on X.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2023\/09\/33BD6AG-highres.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3095730\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/33BD6AG-highres-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tIranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi speaks during a ceremony to celebrate International Women\u2019s Day, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on March 15, 2023. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<p>In a separate statement, Amnesty International said the \u201cblanket internet shutdown\u201d aims to \u201chide the true extent of the grave human rights violations and crimes under international law they are carrying out to crush\u201d the protests.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology said the decision to shut down the internet was made \u201cby the competent security authorities under the prevailing circumstances of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>International phone calls were also blocked.<\/p>\n<p>Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said at least 51 protesters, including nine children under the age of 18, have been killed by security forces and hundreds more injured.<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges yet to the Islamic Republic in its over four-and-a-half decades of existence.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tIs accurate Israel coverage important to you?\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>If so, we have a request.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. 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Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi on Friday warned security forces in the Islamic Republic could be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-229870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}