Iran’s regime plans to completely cut its people off from internet — watchdog

The Islamic Republic is planning to completely seal off Iran from the internet, a report from Filterwatch, an Iranian censorship watchdog, reports.

Citing exclusive intelligence, Filterwatch says a “confidential state project” aims to “transform the country’s internet infrastructure into a ‘Barracks Internet,’ whereby access to the outside world is only granted to a select few with security clearance.

The rest of the Iranian public would only be granted access to a limited, domestic internet without free access to information.

A former US State Department official tells the Guardian that such plans were “plausible and terrifying,” but also may have massive negative consequences.

“It’s not out of the question that they’re going to do it, but seeing these situations unfold, the economic impact and the cultural impact will be really massive. And they may overplay their hand,” the official says.

On Saturday, more than 200 hours after the regime shut down the internet amid widespread protests, monitoring group NetBlocks said internet connectivity in Iran rose “very” slightly.