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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Tousi TV: State TV was hacked, some IGRC businesses burned yesterday; official gov’t death toll over 5,000 | |
| 2026-01-19 | |
[YouTube] During the hack, Crown Prince Pahlavi was on State TV for about a minute on many, maybe all, channels.
Iran considering ‘gradually’ restoring internet access after shutdown amid protests [IsraelTimes] Iranian authorities say they are considering “gradually” restoring internet access after imposing an unprecedented communications shutdown 10 days ago, which rights groups say masked a violent crackdown that killed thousands during mass nationwide protests. Demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over economic hardship exploded into anti-regime protests widely seen as the biggest challenge to the Iranian leadership in years. The rallies subsided after a crackdown that rights groups call a “massacre” carried out by security forces under the cover of a communications blackout that started on January 8 as the protests grew in size and intensity. Government officials say calm has been restored, with schools reopening today — Iran’s weekend falling on Thursday and Friday — after a week of closure. Late yesterday, the Tasnim news agency reported “the relevant authorities announced that internet access would also be gradually restored,” but gave no further details. Citing an unnamed “informed source,” the agency said local messaging applications “will soon be activated” on Iran’s domestic intranet. This morning, AFP was able to connect to the internet from its Tehran office, though the vast majority of internet providers and mobile internet remain cut. Outgoing international calls have been possible since Tuesday, and text messaging was restored yesterday morning. For days, text messages and international phone calls — and at times even local calls — were cut off. Iran has since been relying on its intranet, which has supported local media websites, ride-hailing apps, delivery service and banking platforms. Despite the restrictions, information had still filtered out, with reports of atrocities emerging, according to rights groups. Amnesty International says it has verified dozens of videos and accounts in recent days. They show “that security forces have been relentlessly firing at protesters from the streets and from elevated positions” and that hospitals had been “overwhelmed with the injured” in a “massacre of protesters,” says Amnesty’s Iran researcher Raha Bahreini in a video posted online. Iranian official says verified death toll in Iran protests reaches at least 5,000 [IsraelTimes] An Iranian official in the region says the authorities had verified at least 5,000 people had been killed in protests in Iran, including about 500 security personnel, blaming “terrorists and armed rioters” for killing “innocent Iranians.” The official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, also tells Reuters some of the heaviest clashes and highest number of deaths were in the Iranian Kurdish areas in northwest Iran, a region where Kurdish separatists have been active and where flare-ups have been among the most violent in past periods of unrest. “The final toll is not expected to increase sharply,” the official says, adding that “Israel and armed groups abroad” had supported and equipped those taking to the streets. The Iranians authorities regularly blame unrest on foreign enemies, including Israel, an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched military strikes on Iran’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs in June. The US-based HRANA rights group said on Saturday the death toll had reached 3,308, with another 4,382 cases under review. The group said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests. The Iranian Kurdish rights group Hengaw, based in Norway, has said some of the heaviest clashes during protests that erupted in late December were in Kurdish areas in the northwest. CEO of Iran’s second-biggest phone company fired for failing to block internet [IsraelTimes] The chief executive of Irancell, Iran’s second-largest mobile phone operator, was dismissed for failing to comply with the government’s decision to shut down the internet amid mounting anti-regime protests, Iran’s Fars news agency reports. Iran cut off all communications on January 8 without warning, as calls intensified for the anti-government protests, which were initially sparked by an economic crisis. Access to the internet has been virtually impossible in Iran since then, although restrictions began to ease today for some foreign websites, such as Google. “Alireza Rafiei was removed from the position of CEO of the company after about a year of activity,” Fars reports. “Irancell disobeyed the orders of the decision-making institutions in implementing the announced policies regarding the restriction of internet access in crisis situations.” “The relevant institutions decided to dismiss the CEO of Irancell, citing ‘failure to comply with the announced rules in crisis situations,'” Fars adds. Iranian authorities have announced they are planning to restore internet access “gradually.” Irancell was founded in 2005 and claims 70 million subscribers. | |
| Posted by:Lord Garth |
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| Posted by: Skidmark 2026-01-19 17:39 |
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2026-01-19 09:34 |
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| Posted by: SteveS 2026-01-19 08:39 |
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| Posted by: Super Hose 2026-01-19 05:04 |