Iran allows limited overseas calls but keeps internet blackout amid deadly protests | Top Update

Iran eases calls, keeps blackout

Iran has partially eased its communications blackout, allowing people to make international phone calls on their mobile phones for the first time in days, even as restrictions on internet access and text messaging remain firmly in place amid a deadly crackdown on protests.

The limited easing came on Tuesday, but authorities did not restore SMS services or reopen access to the global internet. The death toll from days of violent protests against the state has risen to at least 646 people.

Residents in Tehran told The Associated Press that while Iranians were able to place calls abroad, people outside the country were still unable to reach them. Those who spoke did so on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.

Witnesses said text messaging services remained suspended and that internet users inside Iran could not access websites or platforms hosted outside the country, though limited access to government-approved local sites was available.

It remains unclear whether authorities plan to ease restrictions further. All domestic and international communications were cut late Thursday as protests escalated.

Limited phone access restored, internet still blocked

Mobile phone users across Iran were able to place international calls on Tuesday following a sweeping communications shutdown imposed during nationwide demonstrations. Several people in Tehran successfully contacted The Associated Press, though the AP’s bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said it was unable to call those numbers back.

Witnesses said Iran’s internet connection to the outside world remained severed. Authorities cut internet access and international calling services on Thursday as protests intensified.

UN urges halt to violence against protesters

The United Nations human rights chief has called on Iranian authorities to immediately stop the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, citing reports of hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests during weeks of unrest.

“The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Right Volker Türk said in a statement on Tuesday.

Referring to the wave of nationwide protests in Iran in 2022, Türk said demonstrators were demanding “fundamental changes” to governance, adding that “once again, the authorities’ reaction is to inflict brutal forces to repress legitimate demands for change.”

“This cycle of horrific violence cannot continue,” he said.

Türk also said it was “extremely worrying” to hear statements from judicial officials suggesting the possible use of the death penalty against protesters through expedited legal proceedings.

“Iranians have the right to demonstrate peacefully. Their grievances need to be heard and addressed, and not instrumentalized by anyone,” he said.

(With AP inputs)