{"id":3592,"date":"2026-03-12T13:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/?p=3592"},"modified":"2026-03-12T13:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:07:20","slug":"day-13-of-the-war-iran-has-spent-one-third-of-2026-offline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/day-13-of-the-war-iran-has-spent-one-third-of-2026-offline\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 13 of the War: Iran Has Spent One-Third of 2026 Offline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the 13th day since the start of military hostilities between Iran and the Israel-United States coalition, internet access remains cut off across Iran, arrests of citizen journalists continue, and threats by judicial and security officials against those disseminating unofficial narratives and opponents of the government have intensified.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence announced in a statement the arrest of 10 citizen journalists, labeling them \u201cenemies.\u201d The statement read: \u201cSo far, 10 enemy elements who filmed strike sites and sent footage to enemy media have been arrested, and this process will continue at speed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notice further emphasized that \u201cphotographing or filming damage caused by the war in Iran is considered a criminal act, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with wartime laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the prosecutor of Eslamshahr in Tehran province reported the arrest of an individual linked to Persian-language media outlets abroad. Without naming the detainee, Saeed Doosti-Nejad stated: \u201cThis person was an operative tied to one of the Persian-language networks outside the country and gathered information for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate statement, Iran\u2019s Prosecutor-General\u2019s Office declared: \u201cThe assets of any Iranians living abroad who echo, support, or collaborate with the enemy will be confiscated in accordance with the law.\u201d Given the history of extraterritorial actions by Iran\u2019s judicial and security institutions against journalists and staff of overseas Persian-language media, this threat from the Prosecutor-General\u2019s Office marks a new and deeply concerning escalation against dissident journalists opposing the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to NetBlocks, \u201cthe internet shutdown in Iran now ranks among the most severe nationwide government-imposed blackouts ever recorded globally.\u201d The internet observatory noted: \u201cThis is the second longest recorded shutdown in Iran after the January protests, and it means the country has spent roughly one-third of 2026 offline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to questions about the internet cutoff and the halt to timely, independent, and essential information, the Islamic Republic\u2019s government spokesperson announced that access would be provided only to citizens or entities capable, in his words, of conveying the official narrative to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, Ahmad-Reza Radan, Commander-in-Chief of Iran\u2019s Law Enforcement Forces, appeared on state television and, referring to the potential for street protests, declared that security forces were prepared to use lethal force against demonstrators. He stated: \u201cIf street protests emerge in Iran, law enforcement will be \u2018finger on the trigger\u2019 and will do to protesting citizens exactly what they do to the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While enforcing the internet blackout and intensifying judicial and security crackdowns on independent narrators, the Islamic Republic is simultaneously organizing large-scale campaigns\u2014through state television, nationwide newspapers, quasi-media outlets, pro-regime social-media activists, and government-affiliated influencers\u2014to disseminate false or misleading reports. These coordinated efforts, often in multiple languages and sometimes employing AI-generated images and videos, aim to impose the official narrative on both domestic and international audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the internet shutdown and severe restrictions on information flow inside Iran, there is no current information regarding the status of several imprisoned journalists. At least nine journalists and news photographers remain detained in Iranian prisons and detention centers: Somayeh Heydari, Pedram Alamdari, and Javad Aghajan-Nejad in Tabriz; Hassan Abbasi in Bandar Abbas; Kianoush Darvishi, Mohammad Parsi, and Reza Valizadeh in Tehran; and Artin Ghazanfari in an undisclosed detention facility. \u201cShinnosuke Kawashima,\u201d the Japanese citizen and NHK bureau chief, has also been held by Iranian security agencies since January 20, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intense U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran continued into the 13th day, with numerous cities witnessing multiple missile impacts and explosions. Hundreds of military, political, and security sites across the country were targeted. Reports also indicate strikes on several hospitals, schools, and civilian areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past days, dozens of senior political and military figures\u2014including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei\u2014have been killed in Israeli and American attacks. There are also reports of dozens of civilian deaths, including children, in these military strikes on Iran. In response, the Islamic Republic has launched missiles and drones at multiple military, diplomatic, and civilian sites in Israel and in some neighboring countries, with some reports indicating civilian casualties and injuries in those neighboring states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the 13th day since the start of military hostilities between Iran and the Israel-United States coalition, internet access remains cut off across Iran, arrests of citizen journalists continue, and threats by judicial and security officials against those disseminating unofficial narratives and opponents of the government have intensified. Iran\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence announced in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3593,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,89,26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-news-highlights","9":"category-repression-of-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3595,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3592\/revisions\/3595"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deffi.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}