As American bombs fall on Iran and Israeli jets pulverize Lebanon, the outside world is losing the ability to see what is happening to ordinary people inside the targeted countries. Iran’s internet connectivity has collapsed to approximately 1% of normal levels, according to monitoring groups, effectively blinding the global media and cutting off Iranian citizens from each other and the world. President Donald Trump continues to demand unconditional surrender from a population that increasingly cannot hear his words.
The military campaign proceeds regardless. American B-2 stealth bombers have struck Iran’s buried missile infrastructure with dozens of 2,000-pound penetrating munitions. A large Iranian naval vessel has been struck at sea and possibly sunk. Israel has issued mass evacuation orders across Lebanon, displacing over one million people and reducing the Dahiyeh district of Beirut to rubble and fire. The defense secretary has promised a dramatic surge in US firepower. The IDF chief has promised additional surprises.
Iran has maintained its retaliatory operations. Missiles and drones have been launched at US military installations in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Additional strikes have been directed at Israel. The Revolutionary Guards have claimed attacks on Israeli military sites and promised new weapons. Hezbollah has continued its rocket campaign and wounded Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border. Iranian state television has broadcast Friday prayers in Tehran, showing large crowds mourning Khamenei and pledging resistance.
The collapse of Iran’s internet has profound implications beyond the immediate conflict. It makes accurate casualty counting impossible. It prevents Iranian citizens from organizing or communicating. It cuts off journalists and international observers from sources inside the country. It ensures that the full scale of civilian suffering will not be known until long after the bombs stop falling. The airstrike on a girls’ school that killed more than 100 students was known primarily through Iranian state media and foreign military sources; the true death toll may not emerge for weeks.
Trump has appealed directly to the Iranian people to rise up against their government, promising immunity to those who cooperate. But with the internet at 1% of capacity, those appeals are reaching a tiny fraction of their intended audience. The contradiction at the heart of his strategy — calling on a population to act while cutting off their ability to communicate — has not been publicly acknowledged. The bombs, however, continue to fall.