Khaberni - The CEO of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Company in Iran, Behzad Akbari, said on Saturday that the Internet service, which was blocked more than two weeks ago, will return "today or tomorrow," according to Fars news agency.
The agency reported that the Supreme National Security Council approved the reactivation of the Internet on Friday night, and informed the Ministry of Communications.
Fars quoted Akbari, the head of the company responsible for telecommunications across Iran, saying "God willing, this issue will be resolved today or tomorrow."
Fars reported a brief restoration of the ability to connect to the Internet, only to have it "cut off again after about 30 minutes."
The internet monitoring organization NetBlocks observed this brief restoration.
The agency reported that officials in the Ministry of Communications informed it that restoring the connection would take time due to "technical complexities."
The Iranian authorities blocked Internet services starting from the eighth of January, as the scope of protests that had erupted in the country since the end of December widened.
In the midst of a blackout imposed, the Iranian authorities launched a crackdown against protesters. Human rights organizations documented the killing of thousands of people, with estimates that the overall toll could exceed 25,000.
On Wednesday, the Iranian authorities announced the first official toll, which totaled 3117 killed, the vast majority (2427) "martyrs" of the security forces or bystanders, and not the protesters whom they describe as "rioters."
Joseph Bazshkyan, son of the Iranian President Masoud Bazshkyan, called on Saturday for the reactivation of the Internet service.
In a message on the Telegram app, reported by the official news agency IRNA, he said that the ongoing Internet blackout for more than two weeks "will widen the gap between the people and the government and this means that those who were not already dissatisfied will be added to the list" of the dissatisfied.
He added, "Blocking the Internet will not solve anything, but will only postpone the problem."
