{"id":440503,"date":"2026-01-31T08:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440503\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T08:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:34:12","slug":"tehran-braces-for-war-while-testing-the-limits-of-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/440503\/","title":{"rendered":"Tehran braces for war while testing the limits of diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran is now enduring the country\u2019s longest and most comprehensive internet disruption on record. Its impact has stretched far beyond blocked platforms and loading screens, pushing many businesses to a point of no return.<\/p>\n

Economists estimate Iran\u2019s digital economy generates roughly 30 trillion rials (about $42 million) a day. While modest on paper, that figure represents the livelihoods of small and medium-sized enterprises that operate almost entirely online.<\/p>\n

The Tehran Chamber of Commerce estimates that at least 500,000 Instagram-based shops operate in Iran, supporting around one million jobs whose sales effectively drop to zero without internet access.<\/p>\n

The collapse began when the signal died<\/p>\n

Industry data reviewed by trade groups show daily losses running into billions of rials, with the Chamber reporting revenue declines of 50% to 90%. But some analysts say even those figures understate the damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere does this figure even come from?\u201d IT expert Amin Sabeti told Iran International. \u201cThese businesses operate on Instagram. When people have no access to Instagram, one hundred percent of their sales are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabeti said the lack of precise data had itself become part of the crisis. \u201cWhat we do know is that Instagram and WhatsApp are widely used by small businesses, and many have now lost customers completely,\u201d he added. \u201cFor some people, their entire livelihood depended on these platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Iran, platforms such as Instagram, Telegram and WhatsApp function not only as messaging tools but as storefronts, marketing channels and payment gateways.<\/p>\n

Analysts estimate more than 40 million active users rely on them, making social media the backbone of e-commerce, especially for home-based businesses, informal retailers and women-led ventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many cases, people have gone bankrupt because they had issued cheques that can no longer be covered,\u201d Sabeti said. \u201cThe reality is that a large portion of online businesses that relied heavily on Instagram have been wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Tehran-based online clothing seller told the news site Dideban Iran that her sales collapsed. After just one week of disruption, she laid off all her workers, shut down her workshop and sold her sewing machines. \u201cI\u2019m bankrupt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another online seller said most digital businesses lack the reserves to survive even days without revenue. \u201cWhen the internet goes,\u201d the seller said, \u201cwhatever tiny capital we have disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IranianIranian Online Shop Building Sealed As Hijab Tensions Rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Silence from businesses<\/p>\n

Iran International contacted several large and small online businesses to ask about the impact of the blackout. None replied. Messages were not even seen \u2014 an absence that spoke louder than any quote.<\/p>\n

A few voices surfaced briefly on X. One user wrote that a friend who teaches languages online could no longer earn enough to cover monthly expenses. \u201cOnline business is not just online shops,\u201d the post said. \u201cThousands of jobs depend on the internet, and they\u2019ve been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another described producers already weakened by months of economic pressure. \u201cIn our industrial area, someone with 15 years of production experience is renting out his workshop as a spare-parts warehouse,\u201d the post read. \u201cLast year we had 13 workers. Now we have three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Economists warn the damage will outlast restored connections. Prolonged shutdowns erode trust, deter investment and stall technological development. Many business owners say they have lost not only their capital but the will and the means to start again.<\/p>\n

Women, who make up a significant share of Iran\u2019s home-based digital workforce, are among the most exposed. For many, online trade was the only viable entry into the economy. With that channel severed, unemployment follows quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this situation continues, it can really push the digital economy toward destruction,\u201d said Reza Olfatnasab, head of the union of virtual businesses.<\/p>\n

\"CrackdownCrackdown On Online Businesses Intensifies In Iran <\/a><\/p>\n

Numbers collide, blame follows<\/p>\n

As businesses slipped into silence, the argument over numbers intensified.<\/p>\n

Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi said recent outages were inflicting about 5,000 billion rials a day in direct losses on the core digital economy and nearly 50 trillion rials across the wider economy. Around 10 million people depend directly or indirectly on the sector, he said, adding that the average resilience of internet-based businesses is just 20 days.<\/p>\n

The hardline daily Kayhan dismissed those estimates as \u201cfabricated figures,\u201d accusing the communications ministry of deflecting responsibility and arguing that officials who failed to build a \u201csecure and lawful\u201d network should be held accountable.<\/p>\n

Industry bodies offered competing assessments. Analysts say the gap exposes a deeper problem than the shutdown itself: Iran lacks any transparent, standardized system to measure its digital economy.<\/p>\n

For many business owners, however, the debate over billions has already arrived too late. Their screens are dark, their messages unread and their income, whatever the final number, already gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran is now enduring the country\u2019s longest and most comprehensive internet disruption on record. Its impact has stretched…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,801,166405,166402,166400,1570,166403,166398,166401,166399,166404,129,3,21,19,22,20,25,3667,24],"class_list":["post-440503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-iran","tag-iran-and-china","tag-iran-covid","tag-iran-economy","tag-iran-government","tag-iran-media-iran-and-the-united-states","tag-iran-news","tag-iran-nuclear","tag-iran-politics","tag-iran-us","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-sanctions","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}