Iran has partially restored internet access after a nearly three-month nationwide blackout, the longest in history, which began at the start of the war with the United States and Israel. While this move ended over 2,000 hours of near-total shutdown for the country's 90 million people, free access to the global internet remains severely restricted. Millions of websites and popular global services like YouTube and Instagram are still blocked, and mobile and landline connections are slow and unreliable. Many Iranians resort to a black market for VPNs and circumvention methods, facing increased risks of scams and malware. Authorities are implementing a tiered-access system, with some professions receiving state-authorized, less restricted connections at a higher cost, while others remain with limited or no access. This partial reopening has drawn criticism from reformist media and individuals who had hoped for more significant restoration of online freedoms.