• Protests erupted across Iran on Friday after the government announced fuel rationing and prices rocketed up 50%.
  • On Saturday the Iranian government imposed an internet blackout.
  • A spokesman for the government said Tuesday that the protests had died down, but the blackout remained in place.
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Iran is currently cut off from the internet following violent clashes between police and protesters.

Iran's government announced Friday that it was rationing fuel and increasing its price, citing economic pressure US sanctions as its reason for doing so. This sent prices skyrocketing 50%, and protests quickly broke out across the country, resulting in clashes with security forces.

On Saturday the government enforced an internet blackout, cutting off all but 4% of the country's internet in an effort to curb protesters organising.

 

Since the protests started on Friday, 12 people have been killed according to the BBC, although the actual figure is likely to be higher.

Iran's judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told journalists on Tuesday that the protests had abated and "calm has been restored in the country," according to Reuters — but the internet blackout remains in place.

With Iranians' access to the internet restricted it's hard to get a clear image of the situation, but Reuters reported that some videos uploaded to social media in spite of the ban showed protests continuing on Monday night.

This is not the first time this year a government has cut off citizens' access to the internet. India cut off internet access to the disputed region of Kashmir in August of this year, and since that time has axed the region's semi-autonomous status.