Iran goes dark as regime unleashes force, cyber tools to crush protests
When protests have erupted across Iran, the government’s first response has often been not dialogue but darkness.
In recent days, Iranian authorities have imposed sweeping internet and communications blackouts, expanded the use of surveillance drones, and deployed security forces to suppress demonstrators, according to analysts and human rights groups who say Tehran, Iran, is refining a playbook designed to smother dissent before it can spread.
A nationwide internet blackout has now persisted for five days, with connectivity at near-zero levels, according to global internet monitor NetBlocks. And local authorities are also disrupting satellite internet such as Starlink to further limit Iranians’ ability to communicate.
The objective, analysts say, is speed.
“The Islamic Republic only has one answer for the protesters,” Jason Brodsky, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital. “The only way out of this mess that it has created for the Iranian people is by cracking down on them — more violence and more repression.”
Since the start of 2026, Iran has been rocked by anti-government protests driven by economic hardship, political repression and anger at the country’s clerical leadership, with demonstrations spreading well beyond major cities into smaller towns and rural areas. High inflation, unemployment and frustration over social restrictions have fueled unrest across generational and regional lines, challenging the regime’s claim that opposition is confined to isolated urban pockets.
Brodsky said Iran’s leadership has learned from previous protest waves that allowing unrest to gain momentum — or visibility — can quickly spiral beyond its control. In 2019 and again in 2022, demonstrations expanded rapidly once images of violence spread online, drawing international scrutiny and pressure.
That experience, he said, has shaped how the regime responds now.
“This is a very well-worn playbook that the Islamic Republic employs,” Brodsky said, describing a layered security response designed to contain protests early. Iranian police are typically deployed first, with more powerful forces such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia, Iran’s volunteer paramilitary force, held in reserve.
Alongside communications blackouts and arrests, Iranian authorities also are leaning more heavily on surveillance technology to track protesters — including the use of drones to monitor crowds and identify individuals.
IRAN CRACKDOWN RATTLES MIDDLE EAST AS ANALYSTS WEIGH US OPTIONS SHORT OF MILITARY INTERVENTION
Brodsky said the Iranian regime increasingly relies on aerial surveillance and digital tracking tools to gather intelligence during demonstrations, allowing security forces to identify participants even after crowds disperse.
“They’re trying to collect intelligence on who is involved,” he said, describing efforts to map protest networks and determine how demonstrations are being organized.
United Nations investigators previously have documented Iran’s expanding use of technology-enabled repression, including surveillance drones, facial recognition software and digital tracking systems aimed at identifying dissidents. Rights groups say that data collected during protests is often used later to carry out arrests, intimidation and prosecutions.
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Killings and imprisonments reportedly skyrocketed over the weekend and the start of this week. At least 3,000 people have been killed, Fox News’ Trey Yingst has reported, and the real figure is likely to be higher. More than 10,000 people have been arrested.
By comparison, Iran security forces killed 500+ people in a months-long protest crackdown over 2022 and 2023, according to the State Department, and 300 people during a 2019 protest wave, according to Amnesty International.
As Trump weighs strike options in Iran, the U.S. still has a broad range of non-kinetic tools at its disposal.
Information and cyber warfare may be the most effective non-kinetic options, particularly as Tehran, Iran, relies on internet shutdowns, surveillance and digital command-and-control systems to suppress dissent.
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“The U.S. has a very robust offensive cyber capability,” Brodsky said.
Those capabilities were on display during an operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro earlier in January, when the U.S. launched a cyberattack that scrambled communications and power sources in Caracas, Venezuela.
“It could also jam the command and control apparatus of the regime.”
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, cautioned that U.S. action aimed at supporting protesters could backfire if it is poorly targeted or perceived as disconnected from the crackdown on the streets.
He said strikes that cause civilian casualties or focus on unrelated strategic targets could push Iranians into “survival mode,” reducing protest activity rather than fueling it. By contrast, Taleblu argued that actions directly aimed at the regime’s repression apparatus — including systems used to jam communications — are more likely to be seen and felt by protesters themselves.
“An intermediate option could be kinetic or cyber attacks against the infrastructure supporting the military jamming the regime is doing to Starlink.”
The U.S. could also “creatively declassify intelligence to assist the protesters and give them a heads up on danger and other efforts,” Brodsky said.
Trump has said he would speak with Elon Musk about restoring internet access in Iran through Musk’s Starlink technology.
Starlink can bypass state-controlled infrastructure, but it requires physical terminals on the ground — a major constraint in a country where such equipment is illegal and aggressively targeted by security forces.
Iran has also shown it is willing to jam satellite signals and hunt for Starlink terminals, turning connectivity into a cat-and-mouse game that carries serious risks for users. Rights groups warn that Iranians caught using satellite internet have faced arrest and harsh punishment.
But analysts say the latest crackdown has left many Iranians more defiant than fearful.
“There is an increasing fearlessness among the Iranian people that has become much more palpable and tangible in every round of protests that we’ve seen in recent years. And it’s very difficult to get the genie back in the bottle for the regime once the fear factor has been eroded,” Brodsky said.
Through the 12-Day War and Israel’s offensive campaign on its proxies, “the regime’s deterrence has been eroded,” he added.
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