JAKARTA - The Iranian government is reported to have suffered massive economic losses following the national internet blackout policy imposed since the beginning of January 2026.
Ali Hakim-Javadi as Chairman of the ICT Guild Organization revealed that the interruption of communication access caused a loss of between 2 to 3 trillion tomans per day, or equivalent to 28 million to 42 million US dollars. If converted into Indonesian currency at a rate of Rp16,756 per dollar, the value of the loss reaches a fantastic figure, which ranges from Rp469.1 billion to Rp703.7 billion per day.
This loss is considered a heavy blow to Iran's economy, which had previously been devastated by international sanctions for years. Hakim-Javadi emphasized that the impact of this damage is much deeper than just financial figures, because the policy undermines user confidence, worsens Iran's international image, and triggers a wave of migration of elites or experts abroad.
He also added that the current reported loss figures were actually incomplete because many sectors whose data had not been fully calculated, so that the actual losses in the field were certainly much greater.
The retail trade and creative industries sectors are the most affected by this policy. Local media reports show that internet disruptions have destroyed the livelihoods of at least one million people working in the fashion and clothing industry alone.
In Iran, most small and medium-sized businesses do not use standalone websites, but rely entirely on the Instagram platform for marketing and sales transactions. With the interruption of internet access, millions of online store owners and home business owners lost access to their markets, effectively stopping their production and revenue cycles completely.
The internet blackout was first imposed by the security services on Thursday night, January 8, 2026, just as massive protests erupted in various regions of Iran. Although at first the authorities admitted that the blackout was carried out for security reasons, the government later changed its narrative by accusing armed terrorist groups of being behind the chaos.
The government's move to prioritize the continuity of the regime and security control over the economic well-being of its people is now triggering sharp criticism, given that the social and economic costs that civilians have to pay have reached a very critical point.
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