Iranian authorities have intensified efforts to choke off information and curb unrest by enforcing a nationwide internet shutdown, confiscating satellite dishes, and seizing footage from private security cameras to identify protesters, sources say.
Informed sources told Iran International that security forces in parts of Tehran started door-to-door operations on Monday, removing satellite dishes and confiscating recordings from private CCTV cameras.
These actions are taking place amid a complete internet blackout and severe disruption to phone networks nationwide that started on January 8, leaving satellite channels as almost the only source of updates.
Agents posed as water and electricity officials to enter homes and seize satellite dishes, residents told Iran International.
Iran has entered its fifth day of a nationwide internet shutdown. NetBlocks said the blackout had reached 100 hours on Monday evening local time.
The loss of internet and phone access has left families inside and outside Iran increasingly cut off from one another. Many people have been unable to contact loved ones, heightening public anxiety and fear, according to messages sent to Iran International.
Protesters disable CCTV cameras
Despite the restrictions, limited footage that has reached the outside world shows protests continuing in several cities.
Videos sent to Iran International show protesters disabling CCTV cameras in Karaj, Alborz province; Mahallat, Markazi province; and Pakdasht, Tehran province.
One video from Karaj, shows a protester disabling a CCTV camera amid a crowd.
Other footage from Mahallat, in central Iran’s Markazi province, shows protesters lighting fires in the street and taking surveillance cameras offline.
A separate video from the funeral of Khodadad Shirvani, a protester killed in Marvdasht, Fars province, shows a mourner disabling a security camera as the crowd chants slogans against the government.
In another video from Pakdasht, southeast of Tehran, a resident says: “Out of fear of the people, they are installing cameras again.”
